From Dust Till Dawn
by Bulba Fett
Summary: Remnants, fragments of something that once was. That's what he is now, a Remnant of who he was. He lost what he fought for, he lost his dream. He lost everything that he knew was dear to him. But, like some have said before, the smallest spark of Hope, can ignite change. Will she be that spark?
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: We in no way own Naruto, or RWBY...Ya'll need to remember that…**

. . . .

From Dust Till Dawn

. . . .

Chapter 1: A Hollow Victory

. . . .

" _ **Naruto! You're lucky I was able to give you that bit of Senjutsu Chakra or you'd be dead right now!"**_ Kurama yelled at his host as the blond crossed his fingers to activate his signature jutsu. " _ **And you're Chakra's already long been drained from-"**_

"Amaterasu!"

Using his right arm to block the heavy inferno, Naruto channeled a small amount of Kurama's Chakra to rid himself of the black flames of Amaterasu. As the bubbling mass of Chakra slid the flames off of the blond, his raven haired opponent scowled in thought.

" _A diversion? I can't beat him with this-"_ his thoughts were interrupted as a spike of pain went through his head, signaling that he could no longer use the powers that his left eye gifted him. " _Shit!"_ he cursed to himself as he placed a hand over the now useless eye. " _I've used too much Chakra! I can't maintain control!"_

Seeing the boy's distracted state, Naruto dashed from his position and quickly delivered a powerful raising kick to the Uchiha's chin. As the raven haired boy flew into the air, three plumes of smoke signaled the creation of Naruto's clones, who continued to pummel the him into the air.

Quickly before the final strike could be laid into the airborne Uchiha, Sasuke spun quickly, using his the enhanced reaction time the Sharingan gifted him, and caught the blond in an equal exchange of fists, sending both fighters spiraling to the ground.

While falling to the ground, Sasuke summoned three shuriken from the seal on his wrist and channeled his lighting element into them. Once he landed on the ground, he quickly struck the three Naruto clones with the lightning enhanced projectiles, paralyzing them for a brief moment.

"Chidori!" He called as he slashed a blade of pure electricity through the three clones in a single wide arcing motion. On the last of the three, his hand stuck into the clone's chest, but did not dispel the clone like he did the other two.

Grabbing onto the Uchiha's over extended arm, he held him in place as the original rushed over and delivered a devastating blow to the Uchiha's face, sending him rolling across the ground for several meters.

Quickly forming a Rasengan, Naruto made to capitalize on the opening he had just created. As he grew closer, Sasuke looked up and tried to react, only for his Chidori to dispel after it's supply of chakra ran out. Gritting his teeth, the Uchiha waited for the blond finish the fight, only for Naruto lose his balance and fall to the ground, his Rasengan forming a small crater underneath his hand as it dissipated.

Smirking to himself, Sasuke moved forward and lashed out at the prone Jinchuuriki, kicking him so that his body would roll to where he was laying on his back. Moving at a sedated pace, Sasuke placed himself over the dazed blond and started raining down blow after blow.

At first, Naruto tried to defend himself. He grabbed the Uchiha's face in an attempt to keep him out of reach, but a strong blow to the face caused him to loosen his grip. He tried to keep his guard up as he took each and every hit, but soon, the damage grew too much for him and his arms laid on the ground, lifeless as the Uchiha continued to pound his head into the dirt.

Taking a moment to regain his breath, Sasuke looked down into Naruto's eyes for a brief moment, and that was all the blond needed to turn the situation around.

Reaching up and grabbing the high collar of the Uchiha's shirt, the blond pulled himself up and delivered a powerful headbutt to the raven haired boy's face, sending him reeling back. Using the shifting in weight, Naruto brought up his now free leg and kicked Sasuke off him, sending the boy flying through the air for a brief moment before he landed in a heap on the ground.

Coughing in pain, Sasuke slowly made to get up, and saw that Naruto was stand over him, a small frown on his face as he wiped a bit of blood from his chin and gave an indignant sniff, as if saying ' _is that all you got?'_

" _He's still not-"_ Sasuke thought with a growl as he pulled himself to his feet. "Just, give it up already..." he growled in a pained, and rasping voice, before moving again to confront the blond Jinchuuriki.

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, Naruto readied himself for another clash before giving a small smirk and dash forwards.

"Naruto!""Sasuke!"

They roared at the same time before trading an exchange of fists. After the initial strike, Naruto rolled his torso under Sasuke's follow up and planted his fist into the boy's gut. As he began to pull back and ready to strike again, Sasuke quickly recovered and smashed his fist into Naruto's face, causing the boy to spin away from the blow. Catching his balance, Naruto quickly blocked a second strike from the Uchiha and planted another blow to the boy's ribs, although, not being fast enough to stop the palm thrust to his chin.

Staggering back a few feet, Naruto tried to regain his balance before Sasuke could follow up on his attack. And follow up he did. Moving as fast as his legs could take him, Sasuke rushed forward and tried to land another blow to the blond's face, but was caught in a counter where Naruto parayed the first blow with his forearm and delivered a third strike to the Uchiha's undefended gut, caused a spray of blood to erupt from his mouth as he staggered back, holding onto his midsection in pain.

Bringing up his fist, Naruto moved forwards and smashed his knuckles into Sasuke's chin, pushing the boy even further back. Continuing his assault, he failed to block a debilitating blow to his knee where the Uchiha lashed out with his own leg to stop the boy's advance. Cursing to himself, Naruto fell to his knees as Sasuke wound up for a second kick, which he lashed out into the blond's stomach, sending him sliding across the ground.

This back and forth fighting went on for hours on end, each of the two fighters delivering bone shattering blows to the other, only to get up and continue fighting on in a battle of wills. As they fought, they both let out roars of conviction and continued to bludgeon the other.

It wasn't until the sun began to set that the two began to lose steam. They're once precise strikes now sloppy, and lacking any real power to them. The two were breathing harder than they ever had before as they continued to fumble after each other, landing small blows whenever one of them neared the other.

Weakly kicking the blond away from him, Sasuke tried to stand up, but fell from his own exhaustion. Slowly, the two began to stand up and move to one another, fists raised for another clash.

But this time, there was no power to it, they merely placed a fist against one another. Naruto's against Sasuke's forehead, and Sasuke's against Naruto's stomach. Taking ragged breaths, the two looked at each other with their swollen and bruised eyes before slowly falling to their knees. As they sat there, Naruto's Hitai-ate slowly fell from his forehead and floated in the shallow water they sat in.

" _ **Hang in there!"**_ Kurama called to his host. " _ **It isn't much, but I've finished infusing more Chakra-!"**_ The tailed beast began before he was cut off by a sudden tugging sensation.

Looking down to Sasuke's fist, Naruto saw that the Chakra Kurama had just finished creating for him was being extracted by force. Losing his balance while groaning pain, Naruto fell forward and was forced to his hands and knees while Sasuke looked down at him in smug victory.

"This is one of the Rinnegan's abilities," he said as the blond fell. "As someone who possesses the eyes of the Uchiha…My victory is inevitable." Struggling to stand, Sasuke gave a grunt of pain as he lifted his arm and charged up one final Chidori. " _Now…"_ he thought to himself. " _I can finally be alone…"_

"Farewell...my one and only friend…!"

As the Uchiha brought down his lighting encased fist, Naruto looked at the boy's reflection in his Hitai-ate, a look of determination entering his eyes. Quickly looking up into Sasuke's eyes, he moved his head slightly out of the way, just enough to avoid the attack, and planted a chakra enhanced fist into Sasuke's open jaw, sending him flipping through the air and cratering into the side of the ravine.

" _ **Nice counter! Good job noticing his visual prowess was weakened."**_ Kurama said to his host as Naruto grabbed onto his fallen Hitai-ate. Putting it into his back pocket, he looked up to the crater that he created with Sasuke's body and waited for the Uchiha to emerge.

"Over and…" Sasuke growled as he began to exit the hole in the wall. "Over and...over and...over and over and over and OVER AGAIN!" he yelled as he began to smash his hand into the wall of the ravine, smashing the rock and scratching his fist. "Just give up! And LET ME CUT YOU DOWN!" he roared out to the still kneeling blond.

Looking up, Naruto gave the Uchiha a small, and quiet laugh, before he spoke for the first time since the fight began.

"Can't do that…" he said as he stood up, his voice ragged and in pain, raising his head to look up at Sasuke with a confident grin. "'Cuz I'm your one and only friend…"

Sasuke looked down at him and snarled. He growled for a long moment before taking a deep, and calming breath. Opening his eyes, he let the chakra he stole from Naruto flow into his hands and formed a flame controlled Chidori.

" _ **I figured as much…"**_ Kurama grumbled to himself as Naruto looked up at Sasuke. " _ **He's assimilated the Chakra I infused for you, and made it his own…And now Flame Control...He intends to finish this in one final blast. Listen, I'm giving you what remains of my Chakra. Once I do that, it's gonna put me to sleep. Don't unleash your jutsu until the last minute, well...it's not like he could use his Rinnegan to absorb your jutsu, but-"**_ the great beast cut himself off as he saw his host smile up at him, and offer the demon his fist. Smile back down at his host, Kurama reached out, and placed his massive hand against his host's fist. " **Finish this...Naruto!"**

Jumping into the air, a Rasengan formed into Naruto's hand, and as the two attacks clashed, Sasuke looked into his friend's eyes, slowly letting his left eye open as the two attacks began to violently react to the other. With a final pulse of the remaining Chakra he had, even using the last of the energy that he needed to survive, he let a grim smile form on his face.

 _I'm sorry Naruto...but if I can't win this...then...neither can you…_

. . . .

The roars of an engine could be heard all throughout the eerily empty streets of downtown Vale as a yellow motorcycle vaulted through the lain's before coming to a screeching halt before what seemed like an abandoned warehouse. Though, the sounds of thumping music and the subtle flashing of lights in the second story windows of the building suggested otherwise.

Once the bike was parked, turned off, and the kickstand in place the rider stood up removed her helmet and aviators. Her long golden locks flowed well past her shoulders and to the small of her back, the unruly and wild stands pointing every which way in some sort of controlled chaos. A cocky smile was plastered on her pale face as she strutted to the front of the building, her heeled knee high boots clacking with every step.

Once she entered through the first set of doors into the seemingly abandoned building, she was met with a short line of people standing outside of a large pair of sliding doors guarded by two bouncers wearing all black suits and fedora's accented by the vibrant red of their ties and shades. She just continued on her way past the line, earning displeased grunts and curses from the ones in line as she flashed the two goons a flirty smile, quickly convincing the two men to open the doors into the club for her.

Strutting her way into the now vibrant club, she paused for just a moment before descending the small flight of stairs that lead to the main dance floor and the bar at the far side of the large room.

As she made her way passed all of the happy dancers, she looked around, her lilac eyes taking in the sights of the popular club. Four color changing glass pillars surrounded the dance floor, playing off of the flashing lights that followed the rhythm of the blaring music coming from the DJ booth where the bear themed DJ jumped and worked the music to the rhythm of the crowd.

She continued to walk towards the bar before she paused for a moment, seeing a man in a white trench coat and a black Bowler hat pick up his cane and stalk away from the absurdly tall man and the two strangely short twins he was just speaking too. And once the blond biker laid eyes on the tall bearded man, she smirked as a small hint of red entered her playful Lilac eyes.

Yang Xiao Long had just found her target.

. . . .

Hei sighed in exasperation as he leaned against the bar in front of him. Damn Roman. The man dared to come into _His_ club and demand for some of _His_ men, and wanting them for a _GOD DAMNED DISCOUNT_!? Bastard could rot in hell for all he cared. He looked up at his blond bartender before giving the kid a nod, signifying by some unspoken language what he wanted. The blond behind the bar nodded and wordlessly reached underneath the bar and with a single hand flipped a bottle into the air, pulled out a glass with two small blue crystals in it from under the bar and placed it on the counter before catching the bottle upside down and letting the contents pour into the glass, filling it halfway before giving the bottle a single bounce to stop the flow of alcohol and turned the bottle right ways up and placed it under the bar once more. With a small smirk he pushed the glass towards Hei with his single arm, earning an amused snort from the man.

"Damn showoff" he growled out, but with little to no venom in his words. He then took the glass and nearly downed it in a single drink. "Paaaahh" he sighed as he brought the glass back down to the bar. "Damnit I needed that…"

The blond bartender frowned pulled out a pair of martini glasses from under the bar before looking at the two twins that wordlessly sat down next to the tall club owner. "That bad?" he asked, his voice a deep baritone as he started to prep the two girls their drinks.

"Psh," the one in white started. "Idiot wanted Junior's men for half the price." she said eagerly looking at the blond as he started to fill the shaker for their drinks.

"Yeah, like, who the hell does he think we are? Girls gotta eat ya know?" the one in red said as she rested her elbows on the bar next to her sister.

The blond would have responded, were it not for his blue eyes to train on a fellow blond making her way over with a purpose to her step. Filling up the two martini glasses and quickly sliding them over to the twins. The blond teen gave Hei 'Junior' Xiong a look before sharply nodding his head towards the approaching girl.

Groaning to himself, he quickly shooed the twins off now that they had their drinks and quickly downed the rest of his own before passing the empty glass back to the blond bartender.

"This day's just been one cluster fuck after the other…"

. . . .

Yang noticed the twins get up and leave with a huff, holding their drinks and subtly glaring holes at her. Her smirk only widened at that. 'Good, fewer people in the way.' she thought to herself as she slid her way next to Junior at the bar, giving the Bartender a quick wink.

"Strawberry Sunrise, no ice. Oh! And one of those little umbrella's." she ordered the blond man, earning an unamused look and a cocked eyebrow before the blond man shrugged and turned around to grab a few bottles off the wall behind him.

"Aren't you a little young to be in this club, blondie?" The tall club owner asked her with a small frown on his face. To this, Yang simply let out an innocent giggle before replying.

"Aren't you a little old to have a name like Junior?" she sweetly said while bringing up a hand to idly twirl a lock of her wild blond hair. Hei grunted at that and leaned back against the bar.

"So, you who I am, you got a name sweetheart?"

Yang again let out an innocent giggle before bringing up a hand to lightly trace a line down Juniors chest. "I have several names, but you can just call me ' _Sir'_!" she started sweetly before growling and letting her hand trail lower and viciously grabbed the poor man's family jewels, earning a pained squeak from the giant.

Growling slightly at the man she pulled out her scroll and opened it to show a picture of a black haired woman dressed in red. "People say you know everything. Tell where to find her and I'll let you go."

Junior squeaked in pain as her grip grew tighter. "I've never seen her in my life, I swear!" he squeaked in a high pitch than normal, only tear up as her grip tightened even more.

"Excuse me!?" she yelled out to the poor man in excruciating pain.

"I swear, _sir_!" as soon as he finished his corrected response, his group of bouncers _finally_ arrived to get their boss out of trouble.

Yang gave the group of armed thugs a quick glance, taking in their poor stances and red colored hatchet's before quickly rolling her eyes. "Looks like we have an audience. This must be pretty embarrassing for you, huh? Awkward~" she purred out as she stared Junior directly in the eyes, he grip not at all letting up.

"Listen, blondie, sir." Junior squeaked. "If you want to make it out of this club _alive_ , you'll let me go. Now!" he finally growled out, earning his freedom with a relieved sigh as Yang released him. Pulling out his red shades he unfolded them and started to walk away from the bar.

"You're gonna pay for that…" he snarled as he put his shades on, his men circling around himself and the blond terror.

Yang only playfully followed after him, her arms innocently held behind her back. "Oh Junior~, I was just playing with you. Don't be so sensitive." she giggled before she stepped in front of the massive gangster. "Come on, let's kiss and make up already…" she added with a suggestive wink before leaning in slightly.

Junior blinked behind his shades. It might of been the alcohol talking, or his frustrations with Roman, but he hummed in acceptance. "O-okay…" he stuttered before closing his eyes and leaning in.

And it was then that he was met with a fist to the face from the blond girl, sending him spiralling through the air and through one of the glass pillars that surrounded the dance floor.

Dancers screamed in panic as they started fleeing towards the door. More of Juniors men rushed to their boss' aid and further surrounded the blond boxer. Yang just let out a predatory smile as her yellow bracers unfolded into a pair of Shot-Gauntlets, Ember Celica. She brought a fist back, cocking in a fresh shell into Celica's chamber.

And with that, the thugs rushed in.

Yang's smile never vanished as she deftly leapt into the air and over her attackers, rearing back a smoking fist before slamming into the ground, causing an explosive shockwave that sent the crowd of thugs flying back. Yang was surrounded by fire as she smirked at the downed grunts, bringing her hands up into a textbook boxing stance, waiting for the first of the grunts to get back up to their feet. And once they finally got up and went after the girl, she let loose a whirlwind of punches, kicks, and buckshot from Celica as she systematically tore the thugs apart. Blocking their blades with her armored gauntlets and countering with a bullet enhanced punch, she made short work of the tactless grunts before dodging out of the way of a spray of bullets courtesy of the bear themed DJ and his machine gun.

Bringing her gauntlets up to defend her face as she bobbed and weaved through the hail of gunfire, she used the explosive force from her weapons to launch herself up to the DJ and kicking him in his bear hat wearing head, slamming him against the wall behind him. She then reached forwards and grabbed him by the arm, throwing him with an explosive toss back down to the dance floor where his bear hat fell off and slid to the feet of the now armed twins.

"Melanie, who is that girl?" the one in red asked.

"I don't know Miltia, but we should teach her a lesson." Melanie said as she idly scrapped her bladed heels on the ground, eager to start the fight as her sister finished strapping her massive red claws to her hands.

Yang frowned at the two before she popped the empty shells out of Ember Celica, proceeding to toss two fresh belts of ammo into the air and catching them in their respective chambers. Cocking her fist back, the blond shot off round after round at the twins before hopping down from the DJ booth and back to the dance floor.

Showing off their dexterity, the twins easily dodged the projectiles and made their way towards the stationary blond boxer. Yang was forced to stop her barrage of bullets and duck underneath Miltia's claws, and just barely brought up her gauntlets to block a bladed kick from the girl's sister.

Sliding back, Yang loaded a fresh cartridge into Celica's chamber and launched another shot at the twins. Melanie brought up her bladed heel and deflected the shot with a well placed kick, the dust infused bullet shattering another of the glass pillars around the dance floor.

With that, the twins rushed the still reloading blond.

Melanie rushed in with a flying kick, being blocked by the blonds yellow gauntlet. However, before Yang could counter the over extended girl, her Sister came in with a slash towards the blonde's midsection, forcing her to back step out of the way. Yang then tried to lung with a right cross, only for Melanie to kick the offending arm off course, causing her to miss. The twin in white then continued to drop into a leg sweep and take the blond's legs out from under her, while the Red twin used her prone sister as a springboard to enhance her own attack and send Yang reeling back with a vicious claw to the unbalanced girl's stomach.

Yang growled as she slid back and regained her balance, her eyes flashing red as her hair began to glow. Suddenly with a burst of speed she formerly did not posses, Yang shot forwards and delivered a heavy blow to the White twin, sending her sliding across the dance floor and away from her sister.

Using Miltia's shock from seeing her sister being sent flying, Yang began to unleash a flurry of blows at the Red twin, her claws barely keeping up with the empowered blond. She didn't last long as Yang used her armored gauntlet to tear through her guard. Striking the Red twin in the stomach, Yang pulled the trigger on Celica causing a small explosion to knock the girl into the air, only to take three more similar strikes from the blond before being knocked clear through the dance floor and through the final glass pillar.

As soon as Miltia crashed through the pillar, the poor girl landed on the floor and slid to the bar, her head hitting a stool with a hard 'thunk'.

The blond bartender who had been watching this all go down just sighed as placed a yellow colored drink with red syrup slowly fading down the liquid onto the bar. Looking over the bar he saw Miltia was out cold, and looking up, he could see Melanie getting thrashed now that she was alone as well.

"...haaaa…." he sighed in exasperation before using his one arm to vault himself casually over the bar and began to walk out onto the dance floor just in time for the blond girl to knock the white themed twin out with a spinning kick to the face.

"...Alright...now or never I guess…."

. . . .

Yang was panting lightly as she returned to her initial ready stance, waiting for any other opponents to make themselves known. Her Aura enhanced senses picked up on the click of dress shoes across the dance floor, causing her to whip around to find the source.

"Jeez kid, Junior doesn't have what you want so ya go n' wreck the place? That ain't cool, without this club I don't got a paycheck…"

It was the bartender she ordered her drink from from before. She narrowed her eyes at him while he walked out to her with a casual gate to his step.

He was tall, taller than her at least. He looked around six foot, maybe six-one. The guy wore the typical dress for employee's at the club, minus the fedora and the shades of course, letting his wild and spiky blond hair to flow free and his striking blue eyes to stare directly at her. Physically, he wasn't much to scoff at. Even with the suit she could tell he was fit underneath, a swimmers physique with broad shoulders and a strong looking jaw. Though, the only thing that was overly striking about him was either the three whisker like marks on each of his cheeks, or the fact his right sleeve was folded up and sewn to his bicep, showing he only had a single arm, and that his right arm was cut off just above the elbow.

"Listen pal, I don't want to fight you so why don't you go back to the bar alright?" She said while placing an armored hand on her cocked hip, giving the older looking blond a hard stare. All she got in return was a sigh as the blond brought up his one good arm to scratch the back of his head.

"Ugh...Now I can't do that kiddo. You sort of trashed the place, and as an employee here, I'm sorta obligated to get you to pay for the damages soooo….yeah. You're gonna have to pay for all this, and the drink you ordered, of course." He said as he pointed towards the bar where her drink was still sitting, little umbrella and all.

Yang looked over to the bar and blinked at the drink with a surprised look on her face. "Yeah, well I don-" she started to say as she turned back to the blond, only to feel a heavy and painful force hit her face sending her flying across the club and into a table on the second level above the dance floor.

The blond bartender stood where she once did with his fist outstretched and sighed as he set himself back into his lazy stance, looking at where the blond landed and waited for her to get back up.

And get back up she did. With a burst of fire erupting around her which shattered several other tables in the area Yang yelled in anger as she jumped high into the air with a boost from Ember Celica, and launched herself towards the blond bartender.

The one armed man just jumped back as the blond boxer landed where he was and slammed her fist into the ground, forming a small crater there. Her eyes were a burning red now and her hair had wisps of flame flowing out from it.

"Huh, neat…" the blond man said with a quirked eyebrow as he watched the girl slam her fists together and charge forwards again.

"This is for the cheap shot you prick!" she yelled as she threw a heavy right cross towards his face, one that he swiftly moved his head out of the way of. She growled and continued her combo. She continued to throw punches until she got fed up with the guy just weaving out of the way with barely an inch of room between him and her fists and decided to add in a few kicks.

After another missed jab she tried to bring a knee up and catch him in his stomach, only for the man himself to bring up his own leg and completely block her before she could come close to hitting him, the force behind the block was enough to make her stumble on her one leg, leaving a momentary opening for the blond man to exploit. He brought up his one good arm and gave the girl a harsh shove, palm striking the center of her chest, sending her sliding across the dance floor until she skidded to a stop.

Using the momentum she was given, she rolled backwards and onto her feet and used her gauntlets to launch herself back at the blond man with incredible speed that she was sure he wouldn't able to react to. Though, a downside to this would be the fact that her attack was incredibly linear, so the man merely side stepped her as she fired off and watched as she sailed past him.

"Look kid, are ya done yet?" he asked as she huffed in anger as she turned back to face him. Seeing her eyes still blazing red, the blond man just let out a tired sigh before he looked her directly in the eyes, a frown forming on his face as his eyebrows began to furrow.

And just like that, Yang was nearly brought to her knees by the sheer force of his gaze. She felt as if hell itself was looking down at her through his cerulean eyes. She began to choke on the very air as a miasma of foreboding dread filled her and completely knocked her out of her semblance. Her knees grew weak as she fell to the ground, hands shaking as she stared in fear at the older blond.

However, just as quickly as the feeling appeared, it ended as the sliding doors to the Club burst open and several officers suited up in full assault gear entered the club, weapons trained on the both of them.

"Everyone freeze! VPD!" the leading officer shouted as he brandished his rifle and pointed it directly at the blond bartenders head.

The blond man sighed once more and brought up his hands in surrender, faintly muttering something Yang barely caught.

"Goddammit...not again with these guys…"

. . . .

 **(A/N): To be continued…**

 **...Don't hate me...please...I know I have other stuff to be working on *cough* Immortal finale *cough* but I had a spark, something I haven't had in like, a year. Plus, I'm** _ **competing**_ **in the NaNoRiMo competition to write 50,000 words in a month. I say '** _ **competing**_ ' **because I started late and probably won't finish on time. But eh, I'll give it a shot.**

 **In regards to The Oracle and The Twice Caged Bird...I mean...after all this time, I just lost track of what I wanted to do with them and completely forgot the story I was trying to do with them. So, sorry to say, they are on indefinite Hiatus. The First Immortal though, is almost done. I'm just trying to tie a decent ending together...which is MUCH harder than it seems.**

 **Anyway, I'm really getting back into the groove with this one I think. Anonymous Jonin also did not help me with the editing so if there are any grammar mistakes that I myself missed, don't hesitate to POLITELY call me out on them, thnx :D**

 **Remember to REVIEW! And like always, I'll see ya next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I in no way own Naruto or RWBY...Y'all need to remember that…**

. . . .

From Dust Till Dawn

. . . .

Chapter 2: Welcome to Remnant

. . . .

" _God dammit...not again with these guys…"_

. . . .

"One count of burglary and grand theft Auto in Vacuo, one count of public intoxication in Mistral, and one count of…'disturbing' the peace in Atlas…and now one count of assault and serving a minor alcohol in Vale. To tell you the truth kid, sounds like yer up shit creek without a paddle." the heavy set VPD Chief said as he slapped a folder filled with any and all information on the blond Uzumaki that they had onto the table.

Naruto just looked unimpressed with the folder and set his lazy gaze on the man in front of him. "You're point?" he said before leaning back into his seat, the chains on his lone cuff that was connected to the steel table before him clicking against the metal chair he sat in. "The most you can do with the charges against me in _this_ Kingdom is slap me with a fine and take the alcohol licence from the bar. What am I _really_ here for?"

The officer narrowed his eyes at the lax blond in front of him and gave a small growl of frustration. "Well, what I have here," he snipped at the blond while pulling out a second folder and placing it on the table. "Is a case about a blond haired male with blue eyes and whisker like marks being the key suspect in a mur-" he started to say as he opened the folder to show its contents, but before he could finish and open the folder, the door to the interrogation room they were both in suddenly cracked open, halting the officer's statement.

"What is the meaning-" he was cut off once more as he turned to see who opened the door to the room, freezing when he saw who it was.

"That'll be all, sir. Thank you for looking after him but the Hunters will take it from here." a white haired man said. He wore a green themed tuxedo with a green scarf as well as oddly shaped glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. His hair and cane suggested a man far into his years, but he didn't look a day passed forty. As he entered the room, he never once took his green eyes off of the blue of the blond in the room, only giving the portly police chief a subtle nod to leave.

With a huff, the officer sent one last heated glance at the blond Uzumaki before standing up and trudging out the door and closing it behind him with a disgruntled slam. Bringing up a hand to adjust his scarf, the white haired man cleared his throat before an emotionless smile appeared on his face.

"Well, that was unpleasant. Sorry for the interruption but I believe you and I have much to talk about." he said before resting his cane against the table and settling himself into the seat across from the blond.

Naruto simply cocked his head to the side and leaned back into his chair, his eyes roving over the mystery man in front of him, observing everything he could. Despite the man's passive look, his aura said something entirely different. The man had a certain feel to him that the blond Shinobi's instincts picked up on the moment he walked into the room. The way he held himself was that of a warrior, and a powerful one at that. The complete obedience of the _Chief of Police_ also sent some alarm bells ringing.

"So Mr. Uzumaki. I believe you've had one exciting night, am I correct?" the man asked as he leaned forwards, placing his hands on the table and crossing one of his legs over the other, completely relaxed.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at this. " _Either underestimating me or a fool...and he doesn't seem like a fool...not the right kind of vibe to 'em."_ he thought to himself. "Yeah, a little more hectic than I like. But, that's life sometimes, just gets away from you I guess."

The man nodded to this before gently laying a hand on the unopened folder. "Is that what happened in Mistral, Mr Uzumaki. Life just get away from you?" he asked with a fake smile as he opened the folder. "Because I believe a murder wouldn't be classified as, 'life getting away from you', Mr Uzumaki."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the evidence before him. Two years ago a Mistralian businessman was found dead in his home, a single clean slice across his throat while he laid in his bed, eyes closed and a peaceful look on his face. There were no witnesses, fingerprints, no traces of entry. Just a dead man. However, the killer overlooked one crucial detail on his getaway. He forgot to check the home for security cameras.

"I believe these photos from the footage found are of you? Are they not?" The man asked with an easy going grin.

The blond looked at the photo of himself, walking past a doorway, his face only half facing the camera as he placed a knife into his back pocket. Grunting in acknowledgement, the blond took his eyes off of the photo and stared back at the white haired man.

"And if it is? What would you, a Huntsman aligned with a separate kingdom do?" he asked, a small hint of venom in his voice as he started to flex his fingers, idly wondering if he was going to have to make a break for it...again…

"I'd praise you actually." the man said, throwing the blond for a loop.

"Wai-what?" was all he could say, his surprise evident by the expression on his face.

"The man was under private investigation by the headmaster of Haven Academy, someone I know quite well. He was being monitored due to allegations with him giving money and munitions to a local bandit tribe so that they could more effectively pillage the outer villages of Mistral, while he would be hired afterword to rebuild the destroyed towns and supply them with better defenses. After his death, they were able to investigate his home and we found concrete evidence that he was doing just that." the man said with a smirk, his eyes looking over his glasses to stare directly at the blond. "Now, I don't really care about something that happened three years ago in Mistral," he continued getting Naruto to narrow his eyes at him. "Do you know what I really want to know?"

Naruto stared at the man for a long moment before responding. "No, what do you want to know?" he cautiously asked, his one good hand's fingers curling against his leg, preparing himself if he needed to make a hasty exit.

"What I want to know is the truth behind your charge of 'disturbing the peace', up in Atlas six years ago. Would you care to explain to me just why the timing of your charges line up perfectly with the destruction of a Atlesian military base?"

Naruto internally flinched. Why did he have to bring that day up? Why did he have to remember it now?

. . . .

 **Six Years Earlier**

. . . .

"General Ironwood, sir."

James sighed as he looked up from his paperwork to see one of his soldiers waiting by the open door to his office. "Yes, what is it you need?" he asked as he looked back down to his work, idly skimming though something before signing it and moving onto the next document.

"Sir, there has been a disturbance at Station 636, and...I think you'd want to see the surveillance footage for it, sir." the soldier said as he moved forwards to place a Scroll Tablet onto the general's desk. James glanced at the tablet and noticed that the video the soldier was talking about was already brought up and was waiting for him to play.

Frowning, James lifted the tablet and pressed play. The video was from one of the security camera's at the base's main square where the Barracks and Mess Hall were located. For the first few seconds nothing happened, people were walking through the area, heading to either the mess hall for breakfast-since the timestamp said 0700 hours-or headed to morning drill. But, after about ten seconds, a small black dot appeared at the center of the square. It was small, almost a speck in size, until it started to grow, the air around it making a sort of vacuum like effect and once it was large enough to fit a hand through, it exploded. A massive explosion rocked the square as if someone pulled the pin on a grenade and placed it there, waiting for it to go off. Once the dust cleared from the the camera's view, a small crater was formed where the dot once was, and in the center of it was a young looking blond male. He wore battered orange pants and a torn mesh shirt, hardly clothing befitting the cold weather of southern Solitas. Upon further inspection after James paused the video and zoomed closer to the blond, he noticed that the teen was covered in blood and bruises, his right arm completely missing and pouring out blood onto the ground while his left eye was swollen over.

"How long ago was this?" he asked the soldier who stood straighter before responding.

"About two hours ago sir. The base was more worried about seeing to any injuries and making sure no one was hurt before getting to the video and sending it here. We have also received word that the unidentified blond male was taken into the on base hospital and is currently being treated, sir."

"Good," James said as he stood from his chair and pulled open a drawer, revealing his custom made Dust Cannon (This is what I'm calling his gun-gun). Placing the cannon into his side holster he moved to the door and retrieved his coat from the hook next to it. "Get me a Bullhead to the base ASAP. I want to investigate this matter personally."

"Sir!"

. . . .

 **Training Base 636**

 **. . . .**

Winter Schnee was for lack of better words, upset. Top of her regiment and in her fourth year of basic training before being guaranteed a position within the Specialist Program within the Atlas Hunter Academy. She was supposed to be leading a squad through drills at the moment, but no. She was in the medbay, sitting in bed with a cast over her left leg and the doctor telling her that she was lucky that her Aura took the most of the blast and that had her Aura even been a percent lower than a hundred, she would have most likely lost her leg in the explosion that rocked the center of the base. She wasn't the only one feeling the effects the explosion had either, but she was in the need for the most immediate attention.

She didn't even know what had happened, one moment she was walking on her way to the mess hall for breakfast, and the next a blinding white light and pain. A LOT of pain. She was lucky that the doctors hyped her up on morphine or she wouldn't be able to think straight.

Broken out of her thoughts by the door to her room opening, she looked up to see the head physician for the on base hospital standing at the entrance. "Cadet Winter Schnee?" he asked looking up from his clipboard and into her face. She nodded in response, a little too out of it at the moment to remember proper edicate. "You have a visitor." he droned on before turning to let someone in.

Walking past the doctor, a tall man wearing an Atlas Military overcoat took the clipboard from his hands and nodded to the doctor. "Thank you, you're dismissed for now." he told the doctor who nodded and with a quick salute, left the room and closed the door behind him.

Winter gawked at the man in front of her, trying to straighten herself as best she could in the hospital bed. "G-General Ironwood, sir!" She called out frantically only halting in her movement when the man raised a hand for her to pause.

Ironwood chuckled slightly with a small smile on his face after he lowered his hand, successfully stopping the girl from moving anymore than she needed to. "It's quite alright, Cadet, at ease. How are you feeling?" he asked her in a calm, soothing tone, trying to get the girl to relax and possible not agitate her injured leg while she couldn't feel the pain.

Nervously settling back into her bed, she nodded slightly in response. "I-I'll be better o-once my Aura returns, sir. Nothing I can't heal from." She told the man, internally cursing herself for stuttering like she did. Ironwood merely chuckled in response with a small shake of his head.

"I like the spirit, Cadet, but you might want to ease up. It says here you were one of the closest people to the unidentified explosion and damn near lost your leg because of it, were it not for your Aura taking the initial explosion. But you still have at least four different breaks in your leg, so a little R&R might not be a bad thing, especially if you want to be in my Specialist Program by next year." he responded with, making the girl look down in embarrassment. James just shook his head in amusement before looking back at the girl with a more serious gaze. "And, Cadet Schnee, since you were the closest one to the blast, I'd like to ask you some questions, if you don't mind?" he asked, moving closer to her bed and standing within arms reach.

She nervously shook her head. "N-No, sir! I don't mind at all!" she got a small smirk from the general before he pulled out a portfolio from inside his coat and placed it on the clipboard. Once it was secured he turned it over and opened it to show her it's contents.

"Good, now, I'd like to know if you have ever seen this man before on base, or around the base?" he asked as he gestured to a picture of what appeared to be a heavily injured male Faunus, if going by the whisker markings. The male wildly spiked blond with what seemed to be dried blood, dirt, and sweat matting it down slightly. His eyes were closed, yet the left one seemed horribly swollen. He had dried blood covering most of the left side of his face and forehead, some as well seemed to have seeped from his mouth, running a deep maroon trail from lip to chin. After taking a long look at the battered blond, she shook her head and looked to the general with a confused expression.

"No sir, I haven't seen him before. If you don't mind me asking, who is he?" she asked the man, earning a small frown. Ironwood sighed as he flipped a page in the portfolio to show a full body image of the blond.

"This man is the lead suspect in the explosion. The response crew found him at the epicenter of blast and he is now in the ICU, our doctors trying their damndest to keep him alive." He said to her, not noticing the shocked look on the seventeen year old's face as she took in the extents of the blond boy's injuries. From head to foot the boy seemed to be completely covered in either bruises, or more of what looked to be dried blood. Not even accounting for the _severed arm_.

"W-What do you mean he was at the center of the blast? I-I was the only one who was within fifteen feet of the explosion, how was he there?" she asked in complete confusion. Ironwood just sighed once more, bringing up a hand to tiredly run it through his greying hair.

"That is the question we are trying to answer at the moment, aside from just who this unknown male is. I watched the surveillance tapes at least fifteen times on my way here and not once did I ever notice anyone other than you near the blast center. One moment a small black dot appeared at the center of the square, then, the explosion, and finally, the boy was lying in his own blood at the center, a near three foot deep and eighteen foot wide crater around him." He explained while moving away from her and towards the door, portfolio in hand. "In any case, get some rest Cadet. I'd hate to not see you in our Specialist program."

Winter nodded before bringing an arm up in solute. "Yes sir!"

. . . .

Ironwood watched from behind a window as a team of medics worked on the blond mystery, trying to stabilize him. He glared at the team, wondering why it was taking them so long to get things under control. He had seen injuries like this, _lived through_ injuries like these, and it didn't take a competent team to get someone stabilized to the point where they could work on getting them healed as soon as possible.

He was brought from his thoughts as the lead physician entered the room, a scowl present on his face. "So? What's going wrong?" Ironwood asked hurriedly. The doctor just sighed and shook his head while looking past the General to watch the blond.

"...It's...odd, sir. The boy doesn't have his Aura unlocked so it's difficult to try and kickstart any of our immediate healing methods that won't require extensive surgery with equipment we just don't have here. But...he's healing, slowly, but his wounds are closing on their own...almost as if he had an Aura active, but he doesn't. I've never seen this in all my years…" he said, a lost look on his face as he watched the blond boy.

"Do you have an estimated time as to when he will be stable?" The General asked turning back to the blond. The doctor just sighed and ran a hand through his greying hair.

"If you allowed us to unlock his Aura, then we could get him under control within the hour. But with how he is right now, it could take several more hours before he is out of danger." he suggested tiredly earning a nod from the General.

"Do it then. I need his stable, and conscious as soon as possible." he said before turning to leave. The doctor merely nodded before he flipped a switch near the window and leaned towards a microphone on the wall.

"Alight, we have the green light to unlock his Aura. Get to it and start mending his arm."

. . . .

"Ooowwwww…." Naruto groaned as he sat up from his prone position. He put a hand to his head and groaned to himself, eyes closed as he fought through the pain he was in. "Gah, wha-what hit me?" he said aloud, only for a loud grunt next to him to sound off.

" **My guess would be an Amaterasu laced Chidori."** Kurama growled out, getting Naruto to look over to the prone fox, the giant vulpine laying on the ground with his head resting on his two front paws.

"Oh, yeah that would make sense...but, why did I wake up here instead of outside?" Naruto wondered again, placing a hand under his chin to try and think of a reason. He only had a quick second to think before the fox interrupted him.

" **Again, my guess would be because you got your ass handed to you so hard that your body still needs to rest."** the fox grumbled, his half lidded eyes staring balefully down at the blond. Said blond's eye twitched in annoyance before he snarled at the fox in faux anger.

"OI! I kicked Sasuke's ass!" he yelled back, arms waving at Kurama in fury. Taking a moment to glare at the fox, he eventually calmed down and gave the fox a small frown. "So, how bad is it?" He asked in a tone that was both curious and somber, knowing that he'd have to be in pretty bad shape to wake up in his mindscape instead of the real world.

" **Well…"** the fox sighed out before bringing up one of his hand like paws and rubbing his snout. " **You've got a few broken ribs, you'll be lucky to see out your left eye ever again with all the swelling, and you can forget about making hand signs since that last attack blew off your right arm-"**

"It's not that bad then, nothing Sakura-chan can't heal up. But...that isn't all, is it? I can feel you trying to hide something." Naruto interrupted, his frown deepening as the fox sighed once more, grumbling to himself about stupid blondes and emotion sensing.

" **Well, you could probably forget about that pink haired girl healing you since-"**

"What!? Did something happen to Sakura-"

" **Shut up!"** The fox yelled out, using his massive paw to flick the boy over the head for interrupting him again. " **The girl is fine you idiot! It's you that's the problem!"**

Naruto rubbed the top of his head where he was hit while looking at the fox in confusion. "What do you mean?" he wondered, panic evident in his voice. The fox looked down at the panicking blond, a tinge of pity in his gaze as he sighed one last time.

" **I...don't know much, but after I woke up, I looked back through your memories and saw that at the last second before the explosion from your two attacks overtook the both of you, that Uchiha brat opened his rinnegan eye and used his teleportation ability on you...I have no idea where we are, but I can't feel anyone familiar nearby...And...I, don't think the Uchiha could have survived using that ability on you. I'm...sorry, Naruto…"**

Naruto stared at the fox in abject horror. The implications of what the bijuu meant were clear to the blond. Without him on their dimension, he'd have no way of releasing the infinite Tsukuyomi, and with Sasuke dead, along with the loss of Kakashi's sharingan earlier, he had no way back. He couldn't summon the toads of Myobokuzan, they wouldn't be able to answer his call because they were trapped in the infinite Tsukuyomi, along with anyone else with the ability to help him...He...he was stuck.

He failed.

And at that realization, an intense pain started to envelope his body, originating from the seal on his stomach and corsing throughout his entire chakra network. His scream of pain alerted the disheartened fox and he set out to find the problem, and what he found surprised him.

Someone was attempting to remove him from the seal.

. . . .

 **Real World**

. . . .

The doctors had no idea what was happening, as soon as the lead physician gave the order to unlock his aura and one of them began to recite the mantra corresponding with the release of someone's Aura, the blond began to scream in agony as a red aura overtook him, it quickly healed the wounds over the blonds body, the bruises disappearing without a trace and the still open wound of his missing arm closing completely. The swelling around the blond's left eye went down in an instant as the boy's eyes flung open. With panicked and frantic glances the boy looked around the room and narrowed his eyes at the doctors around him, the red aura slowly shrinking back into his body as he started to remove himself from the operation table.

Naruto took stock of his situation without taking his eyes off of the ones who tried to rip Kurama from him. He was in his pants, his jacket and mesh armor missing from his body and his sandals barely staying on from all the damage they had taken. He noticed that his kunai pouch and his equipment pouch were also missing, but this mattered little to him, he rarely used them anyway. He growled as his eyes narrowed on the men before him, their fear permeating the air and his sense of negative emotions easily picking up on it. With a blur of speed that none of the doctors could follow, he delivered a blow to the back of each of their necks, quickly sending them into unconsciousness as he moved to the door of the room. He tried the handle but noticed that it was locked, most likely whoever he had sensed from behind the glass window locked it as soon as he started to get up.

With a grunt he used his good arm to simply _push_ the door off its hinges with the smallest of efforts. He took in the hallway before him as he started to move. It was odd the fluorescent lights making it a start white that usually accompanied hospitals, but the odd letters that adorned the signs and the doors threw him for a loop, not understanding them at all. He rounded a corner before two men holding odd metal rectangles yelled at him. The meaning of their words escaping him, but from the context and the emotions he could sense from them, he believed that they were telling him to stop. Noticing how they pointed the rectangles at him with such aggression he figured they were a weapon of some sort.

Noticing the blond wasn't stopping, one of the guards pulled the trigger on his weapon, aiming for the boy's leg as to not kill him, but was completely surprised that the bullet just bounced off the boy's leg*, staggering him and causing him to growl at the man before disappearing in a blur of speed, only to appear before the guards face and planting a fist into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and shattering his aura with the single blow.

The other guard froze in shock noticing that his companion was felled so easily. He didn't even notice the hand smashing onto his jaw before he was knocked out by the blonds backhanded strike.

Naruto didn't even stop to check the two people he knocked out, he just kept moving forwards through the halls. He could hear shouts coming from down the hallway, a red light flashing above his head and an alarm coinciding with it made doubly sure that everyone knew he was a danger by this point.

Guard's were little difficulty to him, a simple punch or a chop to a point on their neck sent them down quickly. He eventually ran into a man with a long white coat and a strange piece of metal attached to his forehead.

Naruto dashed at the man like he had for all the others who had gotten in his way, but was surprised to see him dodge the initial strike, even if it was just barely. The man had tried to reach into a pocket on the inside of his coat, but Naruto grabbed his arm before he could and threw him with a bit more strength than he had been using on the guards, sending the man straight through one of the metal hallway walls, opening it up to the outside world.

On instinct he activated his Chakra Cloak, the harsh winds of the snow covered lands around him cutting him to the bone with its icy chill.

He walked out of the opened hall and into the snow covered land around him. The man he threw through the wall was unconscious, laying on the crumpled slab of metal that once was apart of the wall. He stepped over the man and continued his way through, only hesitating as a plethora of armored men and women started to fill the courtyard he was now in.

Some dashed forwards at the glowing Uzumaki while others stayed back, aiming their stranger metal rectangles at him and releasing a volley of high velocity metal. Naruto didn't even flinch as the bullets bounced off his Chakra cloak, the force behind them almost like mosquitoes trying to bite him*.

An arm made of pure chakra erupted from his right shoulder and smashed into the closest man, crashing into him and slamming him into a woman that was besides him, sending the two through the air and into a group that were trying to shoot the blond. Three more soldiers were closing in on the blond, their strange and unique melee weapons homing in on his vital points, only for several other chakra arms to burst from his body and slam them away from him, sending some into others that still surrounded him, and others into buildings on the far side of the courtyard.

Quickly growing annoyed with the situation, the blond jumped high into the air, and with flick of his left hand, a glowing orb of rotating chakra appeared, it grew into the size of a small car before he started his dissent and slammed it into the ground, causing a massive explosion, sending people flying every which way. Once the smoke cleared around him he could see barely a few people still standing, the courtyard they were in more resembling a crater at this point.

Not wanting to continue further, the blond jumped once more into the air, and flew off, not even looking back at the battlefield below him.

On the ground, the soldiers who could still stand rushed to their comrades aid, some helping others out of rubble, some trying to get some to breath once more. All the while, two soldiers sat at the side of their General as he slowly awoke.

Groggily, General Ironwood sat up, his head throbbing and his metal arm and leg not responding to his mental commands. Idly he felt the metal chip on his forehead with his good arm and cursed under his breath when he felt it was broken.

"General Ironwood, sir! Are you alright?" One of the soldiers asked. James nodded before laying himself back down.

"I will be once my transmitter is fixed. What happened with the unknown after I was knocked unconscious?" he asked with a clipped tone, anger settling in as he came to terms with how easily this unknown _child_ incapacitated him.

"We-we don't know yet sir, but the unknown male has gotten away...the base took a hit sir. I don't know how many people made it out alive after he blew the courtyard up with this strange energy attack." The man besides him explained. James sneered in anger before calming himself.

"I want you to get me any surviving surveillance tapes you can gather...and make sure as many people as possible make it out of here alive, understood?"

"Yes sir!"

. . . .

 **In the Air, four miles from Base 636**

. . . .

" **Naruto! Will you calm down and listen to me!?"** Kurama yelled to his host, the blond not answering him in the slightest. The fox sighed in frustration before an idea reached him. " **Listen brat, I have an Idea. It won't get us home...but it'll save what little would have remained there anyway."**

Naruto perked up at this, and finally responded to the fox. " _Really, what is it?"_ he asked, getting a grumble from the fox about 'stupid one track minded blonds'. Kurama growled lightly before he calmed himself with a sigh.

" **You still have a small portion of the other Bijuu's chakra within you, right?"** Naruto nodded in response, and the fox pressed on. " **Well, since my other half is currently unsealed, I can speak through him. You are the connection between this world, and the other Bijuu, so, they can slowly siphon their chakras over to this dimension and to you."**

Naruto beamed at this. "So you'd be able to bring the other Bijuu here!? That's aweso-" he started to cheer before the fox interrupted him.

" **BUT!"** Kurama yelled over him. " **There is one drawback...It'll take some time, how long, I have no idea. But I'd need to focus completely on keeping the connection up and seeing that the sudden influx of chakra doesn't kill you. In short, I'll be asleep for a LONG time and-"**

"Do it." Naruto said, resolute determination in his eyes. "I can take some loneliness Kurama. Trust me, I can handle that if it means the other eight Bijuu will be safe here with me." he said, forcing Kurama to stop talking and sigh.

Curse his determination. Kurama nodded and stayed silent for a long moment. " **In any case."** He started up again. " **You need to find a place to land...and some clothes. You won't be able to hold his form without my cooperation, and with me asleep, I won't be able to help you, so you will quite literally be on your own, no using my chakra, understand?"**

Naruto nodded in reluctant agreement, and quickly set off to find somewhere to land. After finding some clothes and a quick 'see ya later'. Kurama went under…

And that was the last time he talked to his last living friend…

. . . .

 **Present Day, Police Station**

. . . .

Naruto stared at the white haired man in front of him for a long moment before shrugging his shoulders and leaning back. "No idea what your talking about ol' man." he said with a nonchalant expression.

The man before him simply chuckled and nodded his head. "I had a feeling you wouldn't." he said, a knowing smirk appearing on his face. A moment of silence went through the room as the two continued to stare each other down, blue never wavering to the green eyed stare.

"Are we done here or-" Naruto tried to continue the conversation, or end it if he was lucky, but was cut off once more by the man.

"I'm sorry, I seem to have forgotten to introduce myself." the man said, adjusting his glasses before giving the blond a small smirk. "My name is Professor Ozpin, I am the headmaster at the Huntsman Academy here in Vale, Beacon Academy, in case you've heard of it."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah I've heard of it, so what does a Professor such as yourself want with a 'blond hooligan' like me anyway?"

Ozpin's grin widened a hair before he stood up from his seat and took his cane into hand.

"Why Mister Uzumaki, I'd like to make you an offer."

. . . .

 **(A/N): To be continued…**

 **Ayooo 'nother chapter down and more words written! What's up everyone? How ya doin? It's good to see so many of you poppin by to give this here a read! Sorry about the long delay between chapters, but hey, that's life. I'd expect about 2 weeks to a month between each update so don't get in any rush :/**

 ***= do you guys really expect the guy who can get slapped across the face by a chidori, fly like, 200 meters and crash into a lake causing a massive explosion of water and get back up like it was nothing would get hurt by bullets? Nah, Naruto ain't bullet level y'all. Guy's too tough for that to faze him.**

 **Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Remember to REVIEW! And like always, I'll see ya next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER:** **I in no way own Naruto or RWBY...Y'all need to remember that…**

. . . .

From Dust Till Dawn

. . . .

Chapter 3: Back to the Academy...wwwwhhhhyyyyy?

. . . .

" _Why Mister Uzumaki, I'd like to make you an offer."_

. . . .

"Ozpin...this is a terrible idea. You don't know wha-"

"I think I have a pretty good idea of what could happen, Glynda. I have the video evidence right here for it." Professor Ozpin interrupted his assistant, Glynda Goodwitch. She stood tall for a woman at six foot two, her height made even greater with the use of her heeled thigh high boots, putting her at a daunting six-five. She was a blond haired, green eyed beauty, wearing a black pencil skirt and white blouse combination, with-oddly enough-a black cape that had a purple lining an a crown like design on the back. Her green eyes twitched at her superior from behind her glasses, wanting greatly to slap the lackadaisical man with her riding crop.

"How can you be so nonchalant about all of this!? Wanting to keep an eye on him and keeping him close by for safety reasons I can understand...But making him a professor!? Have you lost your mind!?" she yelled in a mixture of anger and disbelief. She had followed Ozpin for six years, becoming the youngest Professor to work for Beacon Academy after only graduating from said Academy a year prior to her hiring. And within a year of working at the school she was indoctrinated into Ozpin's shadow war against the Grimm and their Queen. She had utter faith in his ability to lead, plan, and succeed, but now she thought he was legitimately going insane.

Ozpin merely chuckled from behind his desk, turning his chair to look out the windows of his office. "Trust me Glynda, I haven't begun to lose my mind just yet. I know what he is capable of, and yes, I very much doubt we'd be able to stop him if he decided to side against us...But, I saw something in his eyes yesterday...something that I know will ensure his loyalty to us, and to do what is right." he said, a hand bringing his mug of hot chocolate* to his lips before he took a long drink.

Glynda narrowed her eyes at the elder professor before cocking her hip and leveling the man a sharp glare. "And just what is it you saw?"

"I saw many things…" he said after a moment. "I saw rage at the forefront, but looking deeper I saw despair, loneliness, and fear." Taking a moment to take another sip from his mug of hot chocolate*, and stood up from his chair and moved closer to the window, gazing out at the city of Vale from beyond the cliffside. "And finally, I saw hope. Hope for a chance to live again, to find something he had lost long ago. I only saw this when I gave him my offer...he tried to act as though he was against the offer, but I told him something that would make it impossible for someone like him to refuse." He turned to Glynda, a small, sad frown on his face. "I told him, 'would you rather sit back and watch as the generations after you drifted away, and fell to the powers that they face. Or would you rather get up and fight, teach, and lead them to a better future?' And that is all it took to get that spark of hope in his eyes. That hope, showed me the kind of man he really was. So no, Glynda, I am not insane, I am merely giving a man something to live for once again."

Glynda stared at the old professor in shock, her jaw hanging open and unable to respond. Blinking a few times to clear herself, she let out a long sigh before lowering her gaze from the man, unable to meet his eyes at the moment. "I'm sorry, I'll...reserve my judgment of him until I formally meet him." And with that, she left the office.

. . . .

As soon as the blond professor walked out of the elevator doors that lead to Ozpin's office, she was greeted with a lopsided smile from another blond.

"Your boss has a few screws loose, you know that?" Naruto said, leaning against the far wall with his hand in his pocket, a calculated stare scanning Glynda. She narrowed her eyes at the blond man, already not liking his aloof nature.

"He has his...quirks, but he knows what he's doing." she said as she moved to stand in front of him. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. I am the resident Combat Instructor, as well as the assistant Headmistress, and it is my class in which you will be assisting." said, offering him her left hand. Naruto's lopsided smile turned into a competitive smirk as he stood to his full height, standing six foot three inches, he was forced to look up slightly to meet her eyes. He gripped her hand with a strong shake, feeling a good amount of strength in her own grip.

"Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet you."

Glynda nodded before she released his hand. "Very well Mr. Uzumaki, I'll escort you to your Office, which, by the way, is connected to your living quarters, and let you settle in. I still have to address the new students for this year along with Ozpin, so I'm sorry but I won't be able to escort you further." She told the blond man as she turned to move down the corridor they were in. Naruto shrugged his shoulders and followed a pace or two behind her.

"S'alright. I'll probably wander around after I get my stuff squared away anyway." he said as the two of them left the CCT tower and into the main quad of Beacon Academy. Glynda shot a glance behind her at the blond, who had his one good arm bent behind his head, eyes darting around while taking in his environment.

"I'd recommend keeping from getting too close to the Ballroom tonight, you might run into quite a few First Year Candidates and I would like for tonight to go as peaceful as possible." She told the one armed Shinobi, a dull look in her eyes as she spotted a small, plotting, smirk form on the blonds face.

"Oh...Don't worry, I'll be good." His small and eerily evil chuckles did nothing to ensure that he would keep his word. Glynda sighed to herself as her blond companion began to lowely cackle to himself.

" _This is going to be like another Ozpin mixed with Peter...We're doomed…"_

. . . .

Blake Belladonna expected many things while she attended the illustrious Beacon Academy. She expected to learn more about the world outside of lense the White Fang forced over her eyes. She expected to meet new people, and eventually make friends. She even expected what she thought would be unexpected…

She did not expect to see a one armed blond man _standing_ on the ceiling of the Ballroom. She did not expect the man to be holding a large water balloon in one hand. And she most certainly did not expect to watch the man drop said balloon on the resident Heiress who had just begun to argue with the blond girl, Yang, and her red haired sister, Ruby, that she had just met…

Though it didn't stop her from trying to hold in a loud bout of laughter by holding her book to her face and burying herself into her pillow.

The two sisters eyes widened in shock as they watched the white haired heiress, Weiss Schnee get completely drenched by a falling orange water balloon. The world seemed to stop for a solid minute before the two sisters fell to the floor laughing while Weiss shrieked in shock. After the heiress stalked off to change out of her ruined nighty, the two sisters tried to calm themselves, though, refraining from getting off the floor.

"Oh, my _gawd_! What just happened!?" Yang bellowed as she tried to calm herself, reaching a hand up to wipe away a stray tear. Ruby continued to chortle to herself as she sighed calmingly.

Until a second balloon fell from who knows where and landed directly on her sister's head, drenching her hair...the hair that she would most probably _kill_ someone if they tried to mess with it... _oh no_.

Yang froze on contact with the balloon, the water completely soaking her hair and the tops of her shoulders. The ballroom seemed to fall silent as the blond girl tried to break from her mental break. Once she did return back to the world of the living, she immediately burst into flames, eyes scorching red as she started to look around the room, trying to find the dead person who decided to mess with her hair.

Ruby looked up to the ceiling, the most likely place where the balloon could have fallen from and froze, eyes wide as she saw a blond man rolling on the ceiling... _Rolling on the ceiling…_ The man saw that she spotted him and smiled widely at her before using his one good arm to give her a quick salute before disappearing from sight in a flourish of leaves...which proceeded to fall onto the three girls.

"Gak! Pfft, the hell is this!?" Yang cried out as she tried to pull a few leaves from her, no dried, hair before they could start to catch on fire.

Ruby and Blake just looked at each other in shock, neither saying a word, just blinking between each other and deciding that things should be left there.

. . . .

"AHAHAHAHA! By the Sage that was great!" Naruto laughed as he flopped himself onto his new bed. The room they gave him was spacious, to say the least. It had a living area, a 'bedroom' of sorts connected to said living area, and a kitchen off to the side along with a large walk-in closet as well as a private bathroom complete with shower and tub. It was connected to a office room that had a single desk, a small table with chairs for guests as well as a few filing cabinets and a bookshelf. He didn't see himself using it that often, but eh, whatever. Nice to have at least.

His laughter died down quickly, replaced by an emotionless stare that was focused at the ceiling. This _opportunity_ he was offered by Ozpin was intriguing to say the least. Not to say he didn't know what the old man was really doing by giving him this job. He was a liability, a potential threat that the old man knew he couldn't contain no matter how many men he threw at him, so he'd keep Naruto close and try to steer him to loyalty through mutual trust and potential friendships. Though Naruto knew he was being played by the man, he was intrigued by the implications of having this job. Over his years of travel Naruto learned a few things about Remnant and it's resident defenders, the Huntsmen and Huntresses. And one of those things being, they were weak...well, compared to himself at least. And they lacked any real drive.

The defenders of this world were becoming complacent with their place and the _peace_ they were currently in. They could be so much more, if given the right motives. And he wanted to see how far they could go, just what they could become if given the right...push.

He sat up from his bed and grabbed the remote from the nightstand, flicking on the TV across the room. The channel was set to the late night VNN news, and currently it was running it's 11 PM news reel.

" _A robbery was reported by local Dust shop owner, Shopk Eep last night at around nine o'clock. The robbery was lead by nefarious criminal, Roman Torchwick, though the Valean born Crime Boss was stopped by local Signal Student, now Beacon Academy Hopeful, Ruby Rose. Torchwick escaped the combined efforts of Miss Rose as well as Beacons very own Glynda Goodwitch, and has continued to evade authorities. Please remember to report any suspicious activity to your local police department, or a Huntsman in you area if you have information on Roman Torchwick's whereabouts. Thank you, back to you Lis-"_

Naruto flicked the Tv off with a small smirk as he took in the image of the reported girl who had stopped Ol' Roman's little heist.

"Huh, small world little red…" he mumbled, remembering seeing her in the Ballroom next to the stuck up looking girl he pegged with a water balloon. "Bet Junior's gonna have a field day knowing that those goons he hired out to Roman are prolly not comin' back anytime soon. Ah well, sucks to suck when you're in that kind of biz." he sighed, tossing his remote back onto his nightstand before he stretched out and buried himself under the sheets of his bead. With a yawn he scratched his neck and rolled onto his stomach.

"Oh well...gotta sleep…" and with that, he was out.

. . . .

The pounding on the door to his room was the first thing he heard after closing his eyes. And with a heavy groan, the blond lifted his face out of his pillow and glanced at his scroll's clock. _5:00 am_. Nope. Hell nope. Not happening. No way in hell was Naruto Uzumaki waking up at five _in the Goddamned morning_.

"Go away!" he yelled/groaned at the door, slamming his face back into his soft, warm, comfortable pillow. He let out a sigh as the pounding at his door stopped, but instantly jumped to his feet, Kunai in hand as the door flung itself open-locks be damned-and an irate Glynda Goodwitch stormed into the room.

"Mr. Uzumaki! I have been trying to get you to answer the door for the last ten minut-" Her instincts stopped her from continuing, her riding crop flicking forwards and her her Semblance activating, just in time to stop the a kunai mere centimeters from stabbing into her eye. She froze, trying to contemplate what had just happened, her Semblance deactivating and letting the kunai drop to the floor.

"MR. UZUMAKI!?" she shouted in disbelief. There was something that she would only teach to the fourth year students of the Academy. The weakness' of Aura. A person's Aura may act as a ' _forcefield'_ as several of her students called it, but it was not infallible. For one, someone must actively project their Aura to defend themselves, and over time, this becomes second nature. This however, leaves those who are unaware of the danger around them at a enormous risk, liable to real damage if they are not paying attention. Another thing, is that Aura in of itself is not an absolute defense even when active. There are points on the body where it is inherently weaker than the rest. The eyes being such one place. Naruto Uzumaki had just gone for the kill.

"Ah shit, you alright? You startled me there…" he groaned out, leaning back to pop his back after the awkward motion of jumping out of bed and hurling a kunai, the severity of the event going straight over his head.

"You tried to kill me!" she yelled once more, her hands tightening into fists around her crop until her knuckles turned white. This however, did not received the response she was looking for from the blond man. Naruto simple scratched the back of his head and gave her a lazy stare.

"Eh, if that did you in, then you wouldn't be much of a Huntress now would ya?" he yawned out, turning away from her and moving away from his bed and to his still packed duffle bag that was resting on top of his rooms dresser.

Glynda would have continued going off on him if something didn't catch her eye. The blond man clearly slept without a shirt, going just for a pair of boxers to cover him. She'd seen plenty of body types in her day as a combat instructor, his physique showing that he was indeed a trained and able warrior. But, it wasn't his impressive body physique that piqued her interest, no, she'd become desensitized to that sort of thing after so many years. No, it was the abhorrent scarring that covered most of his right side, from the stump that used to be his right arm, leading all the way to the top of his shoulder and over his chest and back. The injury was intense, most likely life endangering, and the gruesome scarring showed just that.

" _Just how did he survive that kind of injury?"_

"See something you like there Prof?" the blond man quipped, back still turned to her as he rummaged through his bag, trying to find a shirt. Blinking out of her stupor, Glynda sneered at the blond man before turning away.

"Meet me in the hallway once you finished dressing. I'm to show you to the professors lounge and the professors mess hall. Once you've had breakfast, I was told to tell you that Ozpin would like for you to join myself and him at Beacon cliffs after the students have begun their initiation. Since you will be assisting in their combat studies, you'll need to have a general idea what they are capable of." she instructed him with a huff before turning on her heel and moving to leave. But, just before she exited the room she glanced behind her with fire in her eyes. "Oh, and Mr. Uzumaki, if you try that little stunt on myself or any of the other staff here, I will personally be the one to carry out your punishment."

Naruto watched her leave, a small competitive smirk on his lips. "Hm, anyone else would have died there...you are...different, than the rest it seems." he muttered to himself with a chuckle. He slipped on a pair of sweatpants and grabbed a roll of medical gauze. "This might be more interesting than I thought…"

. . . .

 **Beacon Cliffs, 7:00 Am**

. . . .

Naruto, garbed in his black sweatpants, chest and missing arm wrapped in medical gauze to hide the scars across his body, and a dark orange sleeveless shirt, stood besides Glynda and Ozpin as he watched the last student be flung unceremoniously from the cliffside.

"That was kinda rude there boss, launching that walking excuse for a body bag without answering his questions." he said with an uninterested gaze, half heartedly watching how the kids made their landing.

"Maybe, but if he couldn't get through something as trivial as this, he has no place here." The headmaster responded, taking a sip from his mug. Quirking an eyebrow, he gave an amused hum as he watched at how the young man they were speaking of made his 'landing'. "Seems like someone is dead set on having Mr. Arc as their partner, even with his rather obvious flaws."

Naruto just deadpans as he watches a red headed girl chase down the blond goof. "..Chicks are crazy…" he grumbles before sitting down on the edge of the cliffside, legs dangling over the side.

"What was that Mr. Uzumaki?" Glynda cut here eyes at here fellow blond, expecting the typical reaction most people had to her scolding tone. However, she was not greeted by a cowering man who fumbled over his words to find an excuse, no, she was greeted by the light snores of someone who just slept without a care in the world. With an exasperated sigh she turned back to the forest, keeping an eye on her scroll to watch the students below through the several cameras hidden throughout the forest, an irritated look on her face.

Ozpin chuckled as he sipped from his mug. Waiting a moment, making sure that the blond males breathing steadied before he said anything. "So Glynda, how is our newest member?" he asked in a conversationalist tone, though, the underlying message was still present. _Has he acted as a threat?_

With a small sigh she shook her head. "He's obnoxious, rude, and lazy to a fault…" she stated before giving the blond another look, her eye twitching at his state of dress. ' _Not even wearing shoes…'_ She shook her head and focused once more. "We had a little...altercation when I went to retrieve him this morning, but I can say it was just my lack of tact that lead us to that situation. Though, in that small moment I saw just how skilled in the art of death he really was." she said, small frown on her face as she noticed the last of the pairs forming in the forest.

Before Ozpin could ask what had happened, she interrupted with a small huff. "It would seem the last of the students have been paired off. Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. Poor boy, how they'll ever get along is beyond me. Though, he seems better off than young miss Nikos…"

"Hm…" Ozpin grunted in acknowledgment, not commiting to the topic.

"I don't care what his transcripts say, that boy is not ready for this level of combat." she continued before turning away from the cliff and heading towards the school. "Now that they've paired off safely, I'll head back to the school to prepare the stage for tonight...By the way, what did you use for Relics this year?" she asked, stopping for a moment. When she received no answer, she just shook her head and continued on, playing it off as one of Ozpin's 'moments'.

Once Glynda had left the cliffside, Ozpin glanced to the sleeping blond. A light sweat had begun to cover his form, his closed eyes twitching every now and then while he dreamed, his hand unconsciously gripping the stub of his missing arm.

With a sigh Ozpin channeled some of his Aura into his cane and tapped it on the ground, a small pulse of green energy pulsing out from around him rolled through the air, eventually brushing against the sleeping blond.

Naruto's eyes snapped open, but this time he did not react for his weapons pouch. He did however, leap up to his uncovered feet and gave Ozpin a narrowed look.

The two stared at each other for a long moment before Naruto gave a small huff and sat back down, this time only letting one of his legs hang while he brought his other knee to his chest so he could rest his good arm on it, and look out at the forest below them.

"There's a few big ones down there...You sure you're little kiddo's can handle themselves?" the blond asked, his senses alerting him of the few large spikes of unnatural energy. Ozpin merely chuckled at the blond.

"Sure? No. But I trust them to fight as well as they can, and just maybe, they'll pull themselves through this."

Naruto just stared off into the forest, his frown deepening as he homed in on the dark feeling in the forest. There was something unnatural about it, not just the Grimm that resided there, but the general feel of the forest set him slightly on edge...the feeling almost... _Familiar_.

"Hmph." he grunted to the older man. "Well, let's see if the kids have got some guts."

. . . .

 **(A/N): To be continued…**

 **A little shorter than usual but I wanted to get this one out today. This chapter is my birthday present to all of you little readers, so yay! 20 years alive and I'm a Fanfiction writer :P** _ **Where did I go wrong!?**_ **XD I'm kidding. Happy New Year, Merry late Christmas, and happy Nondescript Winter Holiday.**

 ***= Word through the grapevine says that Monty confirmed that Ozpin drinks Hot Chocolate, not coffee or tea, but Hot Chocolate… gg Oz, ya goin far kid.**

 **Remember to REVIEW! And Like always, I'll see ya next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: I in now way own Naruto or RWBY...Y'all need to remember that…**

. . . .

From Dust Till Dawn

. . . .

Chapter 4: Survival

. . . .

" _Hmph." he grunted to the older man. "Well, let's see if the kids have got some guts."_

. . . .

"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. You four retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forth you four shall be known as Team RWBY, lead by, Ruby Rose." Ozpin announced from his place on the main stage in the ballroom. The four named girls standing before him like the other teams had just done, their faces appearing on the screen behind the man along with their team acronym. There was a mixed reaction from the four girls, from surprised joy in Ruby, shocked horror in Weiss, aloof apathy in Blake, and overjoyed support in Yang. Even Ozpin wore a smirk as he watched the four girls make their way off stage.

"It seems that this will be an...interesting year." he said to himself as the girls rejoined the rest of their class below. Clearing his throat he looked to the six new teams of students*. LVNR, MNCO, WHTT, TNGR, CRDL, JNPR, and RWBY. These would be the new first years, and hopefully their new generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses. Oh how he hoped they would last the test of time...many in the past, have not.

"Now that you have proven yourselves worthy, and have gathered your allies, please take the rest of the night to rest, and assimilate yourselves into your new dorm rooms, for tomorrow will be your first day into Beacon's training, and we only accept the best of the best within this school. Your schedules will be sent to your team leader's scroll before the nights end, and with that, you are dismissed." he instructed as he turned to leave the stage, letting Glynda take over from there on.

Once he was past the stage and out of the ballroom, he was greeted with a lazy wave from the resident blond haired 'hooligan' Professor. "So, Mr. Uzumaki." he started, not stopping, but fully expecting the blond to follow him, which he did, his one hand in his pocket. "What do you think of the students?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and snorted in amusement. "Half of them won't last till next year. They'll either drop out due to the pressure or fall in combat. They're green, Oz, greener than they should be for advanced training. I could see it in their eyes...or at least, most of their eyes. They seem to think his job-and I do say Job-is going to be one big adventure and fun n' games. The only ones I see lasting long enough to actually improve are Team's JNPR and RWBY, and JNPR is only cuz of that _Invincible Girl_ everyone harps on about."

Ozpin chuckled at the blond's cynicism. "Yes, I can't argue with you on that. Though, that is why we are here, to mold them, and guide them to being better than they are now. And, isn't teaching them how to _Survive_ in their future encounters your job, Mr. Uzumaki?" he asked with a small smirk, noticing the small tick appearing in the blonds left eye.

"Yeah, but it'd be a hella lot easier if they weren't so green in this kind of thing. Hell, even that Ruby girl you seem so interested in is the worst when it comes to naivety. Sure she has the skills to be here, but her childness is going to get someone either hurt, or killed down the line."

Ozpin looked passed his newest professor, a blank look in his eyes as he walked on. "Perhaps...or maybe a little innocence is what this world needs after all these years…"

. . . .

"Yang?" Ruby addressed her sister, pulling her aside while their team and JNPR continued on towards their new dorm rooms. Yang stopped and gave her younger sister a raised eyebrow.

"Sup Rubes?"

"Are you okay?" The question surprised her, if the wide eyes and stiffness in her shoulders were anything to go by.

"W-what? I'm fine Rubes, what makes you think I'm not fine? I'm great, super, totally fi-"

"Yang!" Ruby cut her off before she could continue rambling. "You've been quiet ever since initiation-and not that I'm complaining or anything-but that isn't you. So, what's wrong?" Yang tried to deny her, but the sheer concern in those big silver eyes forced her to sigh and slouch her shoulders in defeat.

"It's….you remember that blond guy with Ozpin and Glynda back on the cliff?"

"The one if the sweatpants and not wearing shoes? Yeah what about him-YOU DON'T HAVE A CRUSH-" Yang slapped a hand over her sisters mouth before she got the whole of Beacon thinking she had a thing for a teacher.

"NO. No. I do not-I repeat _do not_ -have a thing for him." She forcibly corrected Ruby, only to snatch her hand back as soon as she felt a warm and wet sensation slither over it. "ACK! Gross Ruby the heck!?" She flinched back, wiping the saliva off her hand onto her skirt (are they chaps?).

"Well that's what you get for putting your hand over my mouth!" She snapped back, childish retort complete with stuck out tongue. After a moment she reeled herself back in and got serious once more. "So, what's really got you this bothered about that guy?" ' _Other than the fact he dropped that water balloon on you...but you must never know that…"_ she didn't want her sister to be a murderer after all.

"...you remember the other day when I asked you to pick me up from the police station?"

"And also asked me not to tell Dad because if he knew you blew up a club while you were supposed to be picking up milk from the store he would, and I quote, 'kill you'. Yeah what about it-"

"That guy was there." Yang interrupted. "He was a bartender there and...well he kicked my ass just before the cops showed up and took us both to the station." Ruby just stared at her sister, her eyes wide in surprise at the fact she would openly admit to getting beaten in...well...anything.

"But...But he's a professor? Why would he-"

"I don't know Rubes." Yang interrupted, sighing in frustration. "Just...be careful around him, okay? I think we can trust Professor Ozpin on who he hires..but that guy...Promise to be careful around him, aright? Promise me."

Ruby nodded, not able to find the words to express how confused she was by her sisters behavior. She'd never seen her this... _scared_ of someone before. Sure she was a worry wart over her, but she never showed this much fear towards someone. Usually whenever she got a strange vibe from someone, or she knew they were up to something, she'd put up her dukes and go in swinging...here, she was shying back, being cautious being...not _Yang_.

"Okay," the blond nodded, turning to follow after the other half of their new team. "Come on, I bet their waiting on you to unlock the door to our dorm."

Neither of them noticed a blond man leaning against a wall around the corner behind them, listening in on the entire conversation.

"Hmph, good instincts kid. But only sharing information with half the team won't get you out of my _test_ for class."

. . . .

"Not a team, lead by you." Weiss vehemently spat at her _leader_. Ruby looked like tears were forming in her eyes, confusion clear. "I've studied, and trained, and quite frankly, I deserve better than to be lead by some _Child_!" Weiss growled out before turning her back on her red headed leader. "Ozpin made a mistake." And with that, she marched away, leaving an emotionally panicked Ruby behind.

Ruby sagged her shoulders in defeat, arms hanging limply at her sides. " _Why...I, I thought Beacon would be great, I'd make friends and learn how to be a huntress...why was I so wrong?"_ she thought as she turned around and began to walk solemnly through the halls.

"That was something…" She froze when she heard a voice she didn't recognize sound out from behind her. She turned around and paled a little when she saw the blond professor Yang had warned her about the day before. "Kid comes here and expects everything on a silver platter? Feh, typical elitist BS if I've ever seen it." he scoffed, eyes hooded and staring balefully at her. "So kid, what do you think of what miss priss said about you?"

"W-wha-" Ruby tried to respond but the man just shook his head and gave her a stare.

"Your subordinate just outright called your leadership into question kid, you ain't gonna defend yourself? I mean, what, you've been a leader for a _day_ and you're already gonna let your squad walk all over you? Show some backbone. You're a leader, not by your choice, sure, but never the less you are now responsible for the lives of three other people. Act like it. If she's gonna throw a fit because something didn't go her way, screw her, she can grow up or leave. You on the other hand, need to either look at yourself and see why she blew up on you, or get her in line."

"But I-" Ruby once again didn't get a word in, for another voice cut in as soon as the blond man finished speaking.

"I believe what Professor Uzumaki is trying to say," Ozpin cut in, walking up to the two with his mug and cane, a small knowing smile tugging at his lips. "Is that it has only been one day. But even so, leadership is not a boon or gift, it is a burden. A badge you wear constantly, not just on the field of battle. If you are not always performing at your absolute best, then what reason do you give others to follow you? You have been given a daunting responsibility, Ruby." He turned from her, knowing his words were sinking in. "I advise you take some time to think on how you will uphold it."

Ruby watched him walk off, a small confident smirk playing onto her lips as she thought about how she would prove herself to Weiss that she could be a leader. "T-Thank you Professor!" she called out to the retreating Ozpin. "Oh, and to you too Pro-" she started to turn around to speak to the blond man, Professor Uzumaki if she heard correctly, only to find a single, falling leaf in the space where he had been, and a letter on the floor. Ruby blinked in surprise before hesitantly reaching for the note on the floor. There was only a single sentence on it, but it made her smile nonetheless.

 _Good luck kid, you'll need it._

. . . .

The next day was...awkward to say the least. For some reason Weiss was acting nicer than she had before, and while Ruby was willing to accept the abrupt change in personality, Yang was still wary of the girl. She'd shoot her a look every now and then, just to see what she'd do in return, but would stop as soon as Weiss shied away. Ruby tried to get between the two and figure out what was wrong, but all she received in return were basic answers such as 'nothing' and 'everything is fine'. Blake told her to let them work it out, but she was still anxious about whatever was happening.

Though, she didn't have long to contemplate what her team was going through before they were done at breakfast, and on their way to their only class of the day with the rest of the first years, their sister team, Team JNPR, walking alongside them.

Their schedule as first years was primarily designed around basic schooling and advanced combat theory. Three of the five days of classes a week were dedicated to theory and education, those days being Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Where as Tuesday and Thursday were dedicated to combat classes. Starting their second year they would switch those schedules to where combat classes would dominate their schedules, and in their third year they would begin to actively do training missions and begin advanced team tactic training, and finally in their fourth year they would "Intern" or shadow for other Huntsmen for in the field experience so that as soon as they graduate they would be liable to account for themselves in how to get into the swing of things as Huntsmen.

However, unlike the years before them, this generation of First Year students would be given a secondary combat class every Tuesday. Survival training.

Today, was Tuesday.

"So, any of you know exactly what this...Survival training is going to be about?" Jaune Arc, a tall, lanky blond boy, and the leader of Team JNPR, asked. His teammates, Nora Valkyrie, and Pyrrha Nikos shrugged. Lie Ren on the other hand, contemplated this for a moment.

"Perhaps it's a class about surviving in a wild or hostile environment?" he suggested, only to have Weiss shake her head.

"Why would they bother replacing a vital class like Combat instruction with a basic nature survival class?" she said with a confused tone, earning a shrug from the blase boy.

"Well _Weiss Queen,_ we won't know till we get there." Yang snapped, earning a cross frown from the Schnee. She would have shot something back at the blond were it not for Ruby interjecting.

"Well whatever it is, we're expected to be in our Combat gear. I'm just happy I get to let my sweetheart do my work here instead of listening to boring lectures!" she said with a happy smile, a hand gently patting her folded Sniper-Scythe, leading the group through the large double doors that lead to the main combat arena in the school. And stopped dead in their tracks as they spotted a blond man laying down in the middle of the arena floor, a confused look on their faces.

He raised his single arm and pointed to where the rest of the first year teams were sitting in the bleachers. "Go n' wait over there kids, class is about to start." he yawned out, not even looking in their direction. Yang gained a hard look in her eyes as her hands balled into tight fists. The others didn't notice, or comment on what the man said, and just moved to join the rest of their class.

A few minutes after they all sat down, the bell for classes to begin rag, and still the man laid on the floor. Some of the teams began to murmur amongst themselves, growing impatient as their 'Professor' enjoyed what seemed to be a nap in the middle of the arena. Ruby decided to take a closer look at the man while they waited.

He was tall, that was for sure. Well built, no doubt powerful based purely on bodily physique. Though, his attire left a lot to be desired. He wore a pair of black sweatpants and an orange muscle shirt, medical gauze wrapped around his chest and missing arm, covering his skin from view. Blond hair tied into a short ponytail, and what she could remember from what she saw of him yesterday, blue eyes. Were it not for the wisker marks on his face, no doubt a faunus trait of some sort, she would of sworn he could have been related to Jaune based on looks alone.

It was three minutes after classes technically started that someone stood up and addressed their teacher.

"Excuse me, Professor?" Weiss called out, a irritated look on her face. "Aren't we supposed to be having class now?" The man just sighed in annoyance and rolled backwards into a seated position.

"Fine, fine, lets get started I guess." he yawned out, his one good hand covering his mouth. Standing up he started to crack his back, then his neck, and finally, his eyes landed on the students. "Welcome to Survival Training, my name is Naruto Uzumaki, you can call me Professor Uzumaki, or whatever I guess." he stated lazily, hand scratching the back of his head as he looked at all of them. "Here I'm gonna be teachin' you brats a lot of different things, but most of them boil down to survival in this big ol' world of ours." One of the students stood up and spoke out.

"How come we have this class instead of combat training? We already had this sort of thing in our basic training before coming here." Cardin Winchester, a tall ginger haired boy in full plate armor called out, leaning himself on his mace, a cocky look on his face.

Naruto looked at the boy, an unimpressed look on his face. "Well bird boy, my Survival training is a bit...different than what you're used to."

"How so?"

At this, Naruto smirked. "Why don't you and your team come on down and I can explain." Cardin shared a look with the rest of Team CRDL and shrugged as they got their feet, weapons in hand and made their way to the arena floor.

"Alright, now what?" Naruto just chuckled and cracked his neck.

"Survive." and like that, the blond Professor blurred from view. It was only by sheer instinct that Cardin was able to bring up his mace into a makeshift guard, catching a bear footed kick from the professor on the shaft of his weapon. Though, this did little to keep him from getting propelled across the arena and into a wall, his Aura dropping by a solid fifty percent from the one attack, as shown by the main screen above the arena, showing team CRDL and their respective Aura gages.

"Today's class," Naruto started, snapping most of his students from their surprise. "Will be focused on what to do when you are in a hopeless situation where you have no way of surviving at all."

Dead silence was all that he was met with, though, he figured that would happen. He noticed that the boy who he just ragdolled teammates were rushing to their leaders aid, two zoning in on himself-keeping themselves between him and Cardin-while the third went to check his partner.

" _Not bad, keeping an eye on the enemy while your comrade acts as a field medic is a good show of natural team skills...though, this situation isn't for testing their skills as a team. It's to test their mentalities."_ The blond frowned at the two in front of him, acting as vanguards for their injured leader and comrad.

"Not a bad idea from you three, but in this situation, you failed." he stated with a lazy sigh before blurring into motion again, the two students hardly keeping up with his inhuman speed. Once they lost track of him completely, he appeared between the two, sending both Sky Lark and Dove Bronzewing crashing to the ground with a spinning heel kick to both of them.

The stands were silent as they watched the two's aura's drop into the red from the single attack. "T-this…" the silence was broken after a moment of awe by Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl herself. "This is unreal...his movements are so fast that he can even be seen...a semblance?" She didn't receive any response, but she wasn't exactly expecting any.

Yang stared at the blond man with wide, almost frightened eyes. " _Just...Just how much was he holding back with me? He could have-no. DO NOT think like that Xiao Long."_

Russel Thrush and Cardin stood staring in fright of the professor, their weapons clattering to the ground.

Naruto stared at the two of them with a saddened frown, a sigh escaping his lips. "Yeah...there's the right answer." he grumbled loud enough for only himself to hear, his hand going to his pocket as he turned back to the audience."So, anyone know what they should do in this situation?" He had to wait for a long moment before someone tried to answer.

"Run? Call for aid?"

"Nope, try again." the blond shot back, digging a finger into his ear out of boredom. He waited for a full minute before sighing out and pointing at the two standing teens, their weapons still on the floor. "That. That is the right answer."

He walked over to the two boys, a hard look in his eyes as he started speaking loud enough for the entire class to hear. "You don't fight, you don't run-cuz I guarantee you wouldn't be able to-and you don't call for help. Sometimes, when the world wants to fuck you over, all you can do is bite the pillow and take it ' _a summer's day, chestnut hair in the wind, a happy smile'_. So, in this situation, you die. No if's and's or but's about it. Life decided to pull one on ya and you died. ' _A ring, a kiss, a day set in anticipation'_. Just hope, that if you're against the grimm when this happens, you have a bullet left, cuz an end by Grimm tearing you apart is not one you want to go through. ' _Screams, fire, death. Chestnut hair, an emotionless face, clouded eyes, red bloo-_ " Naruto shook his head lightly, cutting his thoughts short.

"I want you brats doing some thinking on what you want as Huntsmen and to figure out that this isn't some kids dream. People in this field run into this situation everyday, and it's only a matter of time before this could be you in the field, and not in class. Dismissed."

. . . .

 **To be continued…**

 **Ayyyyy, another chapter down, another couple of weeks gone by. How you guys been? Waiting? Sorry about it, but it happens :/**

 **So, dark little thoughts there at the end...it's a little something I like to call** _ **Foreshadowing**_ **;)**

 ***= I wondered just how many people were in the first year class, so I went to CH3 of V1 and looked at how many students were in Port's class while RWBY and JNPR were in it. I counted 14, not counting JNPR, making it 18, so I rounded up to the next number divisible by 4 and got 24. So 6 teams total. Don't worry, I'm not about to fill this with a bunch of OC's that make no sense. I'll be sticking to the given cast for the majority of the story, maybe a random OC person every now and then, but nothing** _ **too**_ **terrible.**

 **Anyway, yeah. I think I'll keep the chapters to about this length. Try not to kill myself to get it to 6K but keep it to a good 3K-4K range.**

 **Remember to REVIEW! And like always, I'll see ya next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER: I in no way own Naruto or RWBY...Y'all need to remember that…**

. . . .

From Dust Till Dawn

. . . .

Chapter 5: Difference

. . . .

" _I want you brats doing some thinking on what you want as Huntsmen and to figure out that this isn't some kids dream. People in this field run into this situation everyday, and it's only a matter of time before this could be you in the field, and not in class. Dismissed."_

. . . .

Glynda...was not amused. Two teams. Two _whole TEAMS_ have decided to leave Beacon after their second day of classes. Both first year teams WHTT and TNGR dropped out, their reason? 'We don't want to die'. As simple as that. They had a fearful look in their eyes, and when she asked what had set them off like this, her anger flew through the roof.

Currently, she was marching down the halls, her crop in hand and knuckles white in fury. Students clearing a path for her as she walked by unhindered. Her destination? Their resident troublemaking blond professor's office, of course. Of course he would be the one to have the _gall_ to give the students an over the top reality check, one that they wouldn't receive until their third year as students once they began to take their training missions in earnest. While his message was basic, and one they would eventually taught the students anyway, it was the severity and brutality to the team he had been fighting and making an example of that was way out of line. It had been a few hours after classes ended and the two students he had knocked unconscious were _still_ in the infirmary.

Upon reaching her destination she quickly opened the door that lead to Uzumaki's office, which for some reason he refused to lock, and stormed over to the conjoining door that lead to his personal quarters. She would have barged straight in were it not the treatment she was shown the last time she had done that and was not looking for another near death encounter with the man.

"Mr. Uzumaki open the door this instant!" she yelled, banging her hand on the door a few times to get her point across. However, after a moment she received no answer. Her eye began to twitch as she swiped her riding crop across the door's handle, using her semblance to forcibly unlock the door. " _Screw it."_

She flung the door wide, Aura and semblance at the ready for any retaliation, only to be left standing there as the door swung open and revealed an unoccupied room. Looking around for a moment in stiff shock-the twitch in her eye now very noticeable-she sighed in complete annoyance before turning on her heel and used her semblance to close the door behind her.

" _Where are you…"_

. . . .

 **Elsewhere**

. . . .

Naruto sat on the edge of the cliffs overlooking the Emerald Forest, a deep frown on his face. His eyes peered aimlessly through the forest while his senses worked harder than he had pushed them in several years.

" _...What...Is this?"_ he thought to himself as his teeth began to grind in frustration. " _It feels so familiar, yet unknown at the same time...It's like every time I get a lock on wherever-and whatever-it is, it moves...almost like it knows I'm looking for it, and it decides to run from me…"_ He had been curious ever since the day of initiation, curious about the strange... _presence_ he felt emanating from the forest. It almost called to him, and just as he was about to answer, it fled. As if whatever it was was trying to both be found, and hide at the same time. And to him it almost felt like-

 _Soulless white eyes, hair that moved with a mind of its own, bones that kill worl-_ Naruto shook his head of the thought of _her_ ever possibly having any form of influence on this world. He had been in this world long enough to know it wasn't one of her creations, and it definitely lacked her influence. While Aura seemed like Chakra from a certain standpoint, there were notable differences that easily made the two completely separate. For one, if you ran out of Aura, you most certainly wouldn't die. Winded and tired? Maybe, but dead, not even close.

But whatever _this_ was, it set him on edge. The familiarity scared him, but what felt completely different about whatever this was _terrified_ him. Long had he been numb to the notion of fear, due to the fact that he had yet to run into anything in this world that could give him anywhere near a challenge-lack of help from Kurama be damned.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he peered out into the forest. "What are you…" he grumbled to himself, his hand tightening into a fist.

"E-excuse me?"

"Hey who the heck are you?"

Two voices stirred him from his thoughts, causing him to turn his head towards his unwanted guests. There were four of them in all. One was a mountain of a man, tan skin and dark shaven hair went with his calm and serene expression, though the massive cleaver on his back and the green armor along his chest and arms seemed to clash with his passive look.

The one standing beside him was a dark skinned man with orange hair and similarly themed clothing and Katar like weapons. What confused the blond professor though was the complete lack of color in the man's eyes. Blind? Maybe, wouldn't be the weirdest thing he had seen.

The rude one who had questioned him second was a fashionista if he had ever saw one, decked out in more designer clothes and layers than he thought would be necessary, beret and aviators included. She didn't seem to carry a weapon, though the bullets that lined the strap of her purse could prove otherwise.

And the last of their group-

"Cherie?" Naruto gasped in surprise, only loud enough to make the lightest whisper seem like a shout, though from the twitch of the girls long rabbit like ears showed she heard him as if he were talking only to her.

The girl had long brown hair, her bangs cut to almost hide her eyes. Her brown and yellow themed top and bottom went with a black body suit, her stitched heart emblem proudly displayed on her chest. She carried no weapon, other than a small box that stayed latched to her hip.

Coughing to himself as he slowly made to stand, he made sure to subtly shake his head of past memories. The girl looked like her, nothing more. She wasn't Cherie, how could she be? Cherie died nearly four years ago…

"What?" he bit out, a little more rough than he intended, but right now, he didn't really care for formalities. The one in the beret cocked her hip and gave him a sharp look over her shades.

"I believe I asked who the heck you are? You know this is private property right?" her eyes roamed over the man in front of her, clearly unimpressed. Sweatpants? Really? She had dubbed those 'Give up on life Pants' when she was seven.

"Naruto Uzumaki, or as you four should call me, Professor Uzumaki." Naruto responded, his hand going into his pocket as he matched her stare for unimpressed stare.

"Ah, you must be the new professor that the rumors are speaking of." The giant said in a surprisingly deep and calm tone. "Sorry, I am Yatsuhashi Daichi, these are my comrades Fox Alistar, Coco Adel, and Velvet Scarlatina." he introduced for the rest of his team, stepping forward and offering a hand to the professor. He quirked an eyebrow when he saw the teacher pale and hesitantly grasp his hand, the man's eyes unfocused and staring past him. "Are you well sir?" he asked in genuine worry.

Naruto coughed once more and shook his head. "Yeah I'm fine, just a little out of it, haven't eaten since breakfast, ya know? Good ta meet ya kid." he responded, his grip firming and giving the boy a quick shake before taking his hand back and returning it to it's pocket.

"Really? This guy's a professor? Doesn't really look the part…" Coco grumbled as her eyes gave him another scan, still trying to get over how anyone could show their face in public while wearing sweatpants...and no godforsaken _SHOES_.

"I teach Advanced Survival Tactics to the first years and the years that will follow after them, sorry to say, but you won't be having my class unless you somehow flunk and are held back till the first years this year catch up to ya." The blond grumbled, his left brow twitching slightly about being openly gawked at like he was some sort of zoo animal.

All the while, Fox stood in the back, arms crossed and an uninterested expression worn firmly on his face. Velvet meanwhile was in her own little world, her eyes trained on the blond man in front of her, her ears drooping slightly as time went on.

"So what are you kids doing out here anyway?" Naruto asked, half curious as to why they were decked out in full combat gear, half succumbing to the fact that he would not get any more time to himself to investigate now that these four were here.

"We're out here to get some training in while we wait for classes to start back up. All of the other years start next week to give the firsties some time to settle in." Coco said before turning to her team. "And it's getting late so let's get going!" She instructed the others, turning on her heels and getting a running start before jumping off the edge of the cliff to the forest below.

Yatsuhashi sighed before giving the blond professor a quick bow. "I'll see you again professor." He said quickly before following after his leader.

Fox merely gave him a quick nod before dashing over the edge.

Velvet however, stayed in place. Staring at him with eyes that were slowly being filled with anger.

"Yo-"

"Later," Naruto interrupted her before she could speak. "Come to my office later...I'll answer any questions you want then." And with that he disappeared in a blur of speed.

Velvet blinked in surprise for a short moment before narrowing her eyes on the position he used to be in.

"You better…" she growled before running off the side of the cliff to join her team.

. . . .

Naruto sighed in frustration as he flopped down onto his bed, groaning audibly into his pillow. Why? This whole teaching thing was supposed to of been a fun pass time till he found something better to do. Why was it becoming such-as Shikamaru would adamantly call-a drag!?

First the creepily cryptic Ozpin doing his little manipulation tactics thinking he wouldn't notice him trying to keep an eye on him, Glyda being the over zealous teacher with a penchant for yelling at him, and now Velvet Scarlet-funking-tina shows up out of fucking nowhere causing all these damn memories to pop up again.

"Why does she have to look so much like her too?" he groaned to himself. ' _Chestnut hair flowing in the wind, brown eyes staring up at his, ears bent and a flush forming on her cheeks as a small smile graced her face-'_ Naruto slammed his face further into his pillow and groaned even louder to clear his head.

"Well, I thought I should be the one groaning in anger by this point, not you, Mr. Uzumaki." Glynda's voice cut in from his doorway, her somehow opening the door without him noticing. Damn emotional episodes dampening his senses…

"What do you want Goodwitch?" he asked iritibly, his voice still muffled by the fact he refused to remove his face from his pillow. This seemed to press a nerve in his fellow blond as he suddenly felt a sudden flux of energy take over his body and forcibly flip him over to where he was looking directly at the assistant Headmistress of the Academy.

"What I _Want_ , is for you to explain how in the world you would think it would be to incapacitate two children and convince two full _Teams_ to drop out only on their second day in class!?" she chastised him, anger clear and heavy in her tone.

"Two teams? Huh, less than I expected honestly...good on the kids for having guts I guess." he grumbled to himself as he sat up, an unimpressed look on his face. "Really, I thought more would drop after that full on culture shock, so I am honestly impressed." Glynda just gawked at him in disbelief.

"What!? Were you _trying_ to make students drop out!?" she yelled irritably, earning a noncommittal shrug from the blond man.

"Eh, more like I was trying to weed out the ones who wouldn't be able to handle my form of training. I know this ain't really your style, Prof, but I don't teach kids who don't know just what kind of life they're signing up for. I all honesty, I probably did those kids a favor by getting them to drop before they did something to get themselves killed." he idly wondered, Glynda's fury lost on him. "Which teams dropped by the way?"

'WHTT and TNGR…" Glynda growled out, obviously her words were lost on him so far. Naruto just closed his eyes and nodded in understanding.

"Ah, figured. Out of all the teams, TNGR seemed the like the biggest flight risk with them not really being mature enough to handle this kind of learning environment, and WHTT had the weakest members out of all the Teams...Bar that Jaune kid, but that just ain't a fair comparison. They must of saw that too and decided to bail while they could." All in all, a valid analysis on the two dropout teams, though, Glynda was loathe to agree with him on that point. True, TNGR had yet to mature enough to be able to handle the self sufficient learning environment they were thrown in so far away from home*, and WHTT had only passed initiation because they received very little to no opposition on their way to retrieve their relics. However, this did not excuse his actions in the class. He had broke to them a lesson they should not have had to learn until they were further into their studies, and had been exceedingly rough with team while doing so.

"Your actions have been noted Mr. Uzumaki, as Professor Ozpin informed you when you were hired, your class for this year is a 'trial run', so to say. So if this kind of thing continues, and we see any more teams drop out do to your overly heavy handed actions, you will be removed from the school and your title of Professor and professional Huntsman revoked." She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before releasing a long sigh as to cool herself. "Remember, Mr. Uzumaki, these are still children, and are to be treated with a certain amount of caution and understanding. They are not ready for the full burden of what they are training to become."

Naruto just shook his head and leveled a heavy look at his fellow Professor. "In all regards, I'm gonna use the words of one of my late teachers. Once they enter the doors to my class, they are no longer children. They trained killing machines capable to untold destruction and gifted with abilities that are too dangerous for the untrained and unready. I know this isn't Atlas, and they aren't being put into a military, but they stopped being kids when they decided to become Huntsmen. They're Soldiers. Warriors, that will risk life and limb against an ever grown and unyielding threat. To treat them as anything less would be counterproductive, and an insult to all those who passed before them that trained and died in their lines of work. So, if you don't have anymore complaints on how I'm gonna get these kids to the point where they can survive just about anything, please leave."

Glynda could only stare at the blond man in front of her. One moment, he can be lazy and uninterested in anything, almost showing a level of filipancy that would even make Ozpin's aloofness seem acceptable. But now, his eyes were as hard as stone, his tone solid and unyielding to any reprimands or rebuttals. So, with a slow nod she turned and without another word, left his room and closed the door behind her.

Once Naruto heard the door to his office close he once again flopped back onto his bed and stared at the ceiling of his room. "Ugh, I hate getting all serious like that!" he groaned out once more. Now that the conversation was over, his mind wandered once again, brown eyes and loving smiles entering his thoughts. Naruto sighed heavily as he laid his arm across his eyes and let himself sink into the bed. "Cherie...what would you think if you could see me now?"

. . . .

The sun was just about set when Team CFVY returned to Beacon, weary and a little roughed up, but no worse for wear after a good day of training. Although, the hard look that sat on Velvets usually docile face was starting to get to the rest of her team.

"Okay Bun, what's up? You've been broody ever since we ran into Professor No-Style, what's up?" Coco asked finally as they started walking into the second year dorms. Velvet stopped before entering the buildings lobby and sighed.

"Actually Coco, I need to go talk to someone real quick. I'll be back later." She dodged the question, her tone stoic and resolute as she turned to exit the building and started her way to her destination.

"Hol' up Bun, you did-" Coco went to go after her but Fox stopped her but placing a hand on her shoulder. She gave him a sharp glance before she saw the serious expression he wore.

"Her Aura's been all over the place since earlier. Let her handle this on her own, then you can yell at her." he said shortly before turning away from her and headed off to their dorm. Coco sighed in annoyance and followed after him. While the boy couldn't 'See' like normal people, his Aura sight let him in on several different details about people and their intentions. So, she'd trust his judgment on this one, but when Velvet came back...they were gonna have a talk.

. . . .

Velvet walked into the faculty building and made her way to the A.S.T. office (Advanced Survival Tactics) before she stopped just in front of the door and brought out her Scroll. She scrolled through her contacts before she found her father. Opening up a DM (Direct Message) with him, she sent him three simple words.

 _I found him._

She received a similarly short, yet heavy response from her father.

 _Well?_

She took a deep breath before she messaged him back.

 _About to talk to him, will let you know._

 _Okay. I'll let your mother know._

Velvet nodded before she tucked her scroll back into her pocket and raised her hand to knock on the door.

"Come in, or are you gonna stand out there all night?" Naruto's voice cut her off before she could knock on the door. With a frown, she opened the door and saw the man sitting at his desk, leaning back in his chair as he waved to a seat across from him. "Take a seat kid...I feel like this'll take a while." he sighed before she quickly moved into the room and set herself into the chair, her frown never leaving her face.

They sat there in silence for what felt like a good few minutes before Naruto cleared his throat and tried to break the ice. "Well, what wou-" he started, only to be cut off.

"What happened to her?" Velvet whispered, her hands shaking as they balled into fists. "What happened to Cherie? What happened to my Sister!?"

Naruto looked down to his desk, eyes not able to meet hers as her voice rose in anger. Only one thought running through his head as he tried to block the memories that rushed back because of that one, simple question.

" _Fuck…"_

. . . .

 **(A/N): To be continued…**

 ***= Think of kids going off to college and dropping out cuz they couldn't handle the "College Lifestyle"**

 **Hoooo boy...this is a** _ **little**_ **later than I intended...though, Work did pick up for the Superbowl and I have had to 40 hour weeks in a row...so little time to sit and THINK. But eh, sorry.**

 **So, Volume 5 ended...that was...ugh…**

 **(WARNING! SALTY RANT AHEAD!)**

 **So, Volume 5 is so far my least favorite volume of RWBY, and after the shit show that was V4, that is SAYING SOMETHING. The amount of blue balling they did with the fight scenes and the "Hyping up" of certain events just to gloss over them was just too damn high. Jaune's Semblance reveal was so anticlimactic that it almost hurt. And Adam and Cinder are both wastes of possibly good villains...I would go further into why I hated this volume, but I'd be here all day.**

 **(SALTY RANT OVER!)**

 **And, I guess I should answer a few questions from the audience!? (Yay?)**

 **Ehem:**

 **1: DON'T JUDGE ME ABOUT MY MATH SKILLS GAWD! I wrote the whole team number/names bit at like...4 in the morning...so...yeah...oof my math…**

 **2: No I will not be giving people Chakra other than Naruto...that will be answered in story later, but here is the TL;DR. Why would he introduce something that caused so much pain and suffering in his world to this one when it already has so much on it's plate?**

 **3: SHOES ARE FOR THE WEAK!**

 **4: To the guy who ranted about why people always make Naruto a "Fuck Professor" I honestly haven't seen that many with him as one. I've mostly just seen him as a student, which is dumb with his power he could straight up beat any huntsman in beacon if you're using post War Naruto like I am.**

 **5: And to those who are off put but the fact Naruto gave that little speech last chapter. I mean, think on what this guy has been through. He's stranded in a new world on his own with the knowledge that he has failed** _ **EVERYONE**_ **he has ever known and loved. Plus, he's giving an actual life fact. There are moments when you just aren't going to win, where there is nothing you can do but just die. You can fight as hard as you want, try and stand for as long as possible, but at the end of the day, in some situations, you are just going to die. But that's why he's there. He's there to teach them, and train them so the chances of them ever being in that situation is slim to none. As shown in this chapter, he's weeding out the ones who wouldn't have been able to handle the stress or wouldn't have taken this Job seriously. Think of him as a Military Boot Camp Sergeant. He's gonna get in your face, break you, and build you back up again till you can't be broken again.**

 **6: I originally thought to name this story "Armed and Ready", as a reference to the song, since much of Naruto's Character arc is going to follow the verses of that song...but I thought it would be a little...Ironic...with him being** _ **disarmed**_ **at the moment and all...**

 **Enough Questions for now.**

 **Remember to REVIEW! And like always, I'll see ya next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER: I in no way own Naruto or RWBY...Y'all need to remember that…**

. . . .

From Dust Till Dawn

. . . .

Chapter 6: Mon Cherie

. . . .

" _What happened to her?" Velvet whispered, her hands shaking as they balled into fists. "What happened to Cherie? What happened to my Sister!?"_

 _Naruto looked down to his desk, eyes not able to meet hers as her voice rose in anger. Only one thought running through his head as he tried to block the memories that rushed back because of that one, simple question._

" _Fuck…"_

. . . .

 **4 years and 7 months ago**

. . . .

It was raining. Kami how he hated the rain. A eighteen year old Naruto sat in a small cave in the middle of a large forest somewhere in the middle of bum fuck nowhere Anima, staring out at the rain that seemed to pour without end. He wore a tattered brown cloak that covered his worn and slightly torn slacks. Currently foregoing a shirt do to the fact that his last one was currently what he had to use as a starting agent for the small fire he had going in the cave, he kept the bandages on that covered his chest and missing arm, his weapons pouches now relocated for ease of access for his left arm. Taking a moment to look away from the endless rain, he glared at the boots he was wearing, noting that the souls were beginning to tear off at the heels, and began to grumble to himself before looking back out at the downpour outside.

He sighed to himself as he made to make himself as comfortable as possible in the slightly cramped cave. Of course, right as he found the perfect way to set himself a spiking pain flared in his stomach. He grimaced slightly before taking a soothing breath. He closed his eyes, and with quick grumble about poor timing, he let himself sink into a deep meditation.

The next time he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the little cave, the smell of rain and smoke no longer invading his senses. No, he was now in his mindscape...the sewer only being a minor improvement on his earlier local. Looking around for a brief second he easily spotted the massive orange fox that sat in a meditative position in the center of the enormous room he found himself in, the creatures nine colossal tails swaying aimlessly behind the beast. All around the fox were almost as equally large constructs of pure, unformed chakra. The eight red pools of chakra all varying in size, though, four of the eight were crudely shaped into what could be called different animals with an ascending number of tails.

"Huh, looks like Son finished his transfer over." Naruto idly mumbled to himself as he wandered over to the fox. "All that's left is for Kokuo, Saiken, Chomei, Gyuuki, and your other half to make the journey on over, and you'll all be awake. Keep up the good work Kurama, I'll come by later to see how you're doing buddy." He received no answer from the fox, but he hadn't expected to. He'd spent nearly the last three years without a word from the chakra entity, so why would he expect any now?

And with that, he let himself fade from his inner world, and back into the one he was unwillingly flung into.

Only to recoil in shock as he was instantly met with large, curious brown eyes. "Holy shit!" he yelled and tried to scramble back inside of his small cave, ultimately just scooting back a couple of feet and hitting the back wall. The person in front of him fared no better as they gave a definitely feminine cry of surprise before jumping back and falling on their behind in the middle of the pouring rain just outside the mouth of the cave.

The two stared at each other for a moment, both breathing hard and trying to get their nerves under control. However, after the small moment, Naruto was the first to break the relative silence between the two.

"Jeez, don't sneak up on a guy like that!" he yelled in agitation, still somewhat short of breath from his little surprise. The girl in front of him just scoffed in shock before pointing a finger at him.

"Hey!" she yelled back at him. "I was the one checking if you were alive or not! I tried to wake you a couple of times and you just wouldn't bu-Chu!" she started to retort before a loud sneeze took over her sentence. She brought her arms up and held herself, shivering slightly as she sniffed, her cheeks sporting a blush and her eyes looking at the blond in front of her with a small hint of annoyance.

Naruto blinked a couple of times in shock before hastily moving himself to where she could sit inside without touching the fire he had burning. With a small gesture to the now open spot she nodded and crawled in, giving him a quiet 'thank you' as she settled herself in. They stayed quiet for a few minutes, just letting the roar of the rain outside of their shelter fill in the silence as the small crackle from the fire tried to contend with the chill that the rain brought.

The blond took a moment to take idle glances at the girl besides him in the now even more cramped cave, they're shoulders basically pressed against one another as they struggled for personal space. She had short, bobbed chestnut brown hair, light brown eyes and a small button like nose that went with her slightly rounded cheeks, along with a few freckles spotting her face just under her eyes. She was shorter than he was, though, now a days most women he met were since his body decided to finally hit its growth spurt in the last year or so. Though, the two nearly foot long rabbit ears that sat on top of her head evened out their heights. Said ears were currently flopped forwards slightly as she curled herself up and tried to get warm, bringing his notice to just how soaked her burgundy sweater and khaki capris were, her hiking shoes also completely drenched and doing nothing to keep her feet warm.

"Here," was all he said as he shrugged off his cloak and awkwardly maneuvered himself so that he could hand it to her. She blushed lightly at both his gesture, and the fact that he was now sitting there shirtless next to her, but accepted the cloak with a small, but thankful nod. Had he not been wearing the gauze wrapping around his torso, the offer might have been a bit more...awkward then it had been.

The girl brought the cloak around her tightly, giving a shivering sigh of relief as the residual heat from when he was wearing it soaked into her cold clothes. Though it wasn't much, it did help keep the cold wind that wafted into the cave from getting to her wet clothes and making her chill even worse.

"You might want to ditch the shoes...don't want to get an infection." Naruto idly informed her, turning slightly to rummage through his utility pouch on his hip, trying to find something to make the fight burn a little warmer. The girl blushed a little more but nodded and slipped them, and the socks underneath off and quickly shot her legs back under the cloak, curling up into the dry fabric that just seemed to radiate a small warmth that helped her relax from the cold around the two of them.

Naruto clicked his tongue in annoyance as all he found in his pouch that he could burn was either a explosive tag he made a few days ago, a big no-no, or the spare role of gauze that he used to cover his chest. He thought about asking the girl next to him if she had anything, but quickly thought not to. Based on her attire, and how soaked she was, he doubted she had anything that the could use, or anything that wasn't too wet to burn. While gauze wouldn't burn long, it would keep the fire going long enough for him to find something inside the cave he could use. Unrolling a small pile of gauze, he tossed it into the fire and let it burn.

"I-I think there is a root or something b-behind me." the girl said, her teeth still chattering slightly. She leaned forwards and truth be told, a tree root was just behind her. Nodding, Naruto brought his left arm across his body and in a quick, but awkward maneuver, ripped the root from the cave wall. It was about the length of his forearm, but dry enough and thick enough that it would burn for a good while. Letting the girl lean back into her previous spot, now made more comfortable by the removal of the root, Naruto brushed the dirt off the root away from the both of them and added it to the fire, making sure that it caught fire before letting it rest. The small flames grew a little taller from the added fuel, not much, but the added warmth it brought was a god send for the two of them.

They settled into the cave and sat in silence once more, neither of their eyes leaving the slightly bigger fire in front of them. Though, after a few minutes of awkward silence, the girl finally broke the ice.

"S-so...I haven't seen you around here before. What's your name?" she asked, a small stutter to her words as she pulled the cloak a little tighter around herself, eyes hesitantly flicking over to the one armed blond.

"Naruto," he simply said, eyes shifting over to her own. "You?"

She turned away from him and stared at the fire in front of them. "Cherie. Cherie Scarlatina." The sounds of rain filled the silence once more, the two of them sitting once more in an awkward silence, not knowing what to say to keep the conversation going.

"S-so…" Cherie tried. "You're pretty strong? Are you a Huntsman or something?" She asked, gesturing to the fairly large root that was burning in the fire. Naruto shrugged, she wasn't wrong. The amount if strength it took to pull the root out of the wall was significantly higher than what any civilian would have been capable of

"Or something would probably be it." He responded after a quiet moment. "Doubt any Huntsman school would take someone like me." He moved his stumped right arm, causing the girl to blush in embarrassment and try to stutter out a few apologies, only for the blond to laugh in response. "Don't worry about it. I've had a few years to get used to it." After a soft chuckle at her embarrassed expression, he looked out to the pouring rain, a soft look in his eyes. "Nah, I'm not anything noble like a Huntsman. Just a traveler is all." He waited for a moment before turning his gaze towards her, an eyebrow cocked in contemplation. "Anyway, what're you doing out here? I don't think there's a town anywhere nearby?"

Cherie's ears perked up a bit in response to his question. "Oh, there's actually a village about a mile and a half away from here. It's small, and pretty new so I don't think any maps have it on them yet, but that's where my home is." she explained before a small smile formed on her lips. "My family runs a little tailor shop there and I was actually out setting up snares when the rain hit. Guess mom was right, "Storms brewin' Cherie, you'd best hurry back soon". I just thought they were just a couple of clouds, but guess I was wrong." she said before she gave a small laugh.

Naruto chuckled as well before laying back a little. "Well, might as well make yourself comfortable, looks like we'll be here for awhile." he laid his head back and rested his eyes, hearing and feeling her move a little so that she was laying down as well, almost leaning into his side, though trying to keep a polite distance.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Cherie agreed, holding the cloak a little tighter to herself. The blond's eyes were closed, so he missed out on the small blush she had on her face.

. . . .

In hindsight, sleeping in a cave without anything to cover you or to lay on other than rocks was a pretty poor way to sleep, and yet, for the first time in nearly three years, Naruto slept soundly. Not even a dream in mind as his eyes slowly fluttered open, the sounds of water dripping off the cave entrance filling his ears and waking his mind.

He slowly leaned up with a yawn and stretched his back, feeling it's stiffness disappear with a few audible pops. Rubbing the soreness out of his neck he turned to look where his cave-mate was supposed to be, but only found an empty space, the dirt flattened slightly showing that someone had been laying there at one point. He sighed to himself as he made sure that the fire remains in front of him were properly disposed of and crawled out of the cave and stood to his full height and stretched himself out.

"Tch," he clicked his tongue in annoyance as he noticed that his cloak was missing. "Huh, and I thought she was a nice enough person to at least leave the cloak when she left…" he grumbled to himself before falling silent, a soft crunching sound coming from his left catching his attention. With a single, fluid motion, the blond unsheathed a kunai from the weapon holster on his thigh, palming the blade and remaining still as he waited for whatever it was coming up on him to appear.

Though the tension in his muscles loosened and a small bead of sweat fell down the side of his bed as he watched Cherie pop out of a bush and fall flat on he face with a small 'eep!' in surprise.

"Owwww" she groaned into the dirt, arms splayed out in front of her showing the two dead rabbits she had been carrying. She slowly peeled herself off of the ground and stood up, patting the dirt off of her legs and the borrowed cloak she was still wearing in the process. She gave the blond an apologetic look as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "S-sorry about being here when you woke up," she started before showing off the prey she had caught. "But I went to see if the storm messed with any of the snares I set up yesterday. Most of them were broken, but these two actually caught something!" a smile beamed from her while she held up the two rabbits.

Naruto just resisted the urge to point out the irony of a _Rabbit Faunus_ hunting and catching _rabbits_. After beating back the unsavory comments he could have made, he just placed his hand on his hip and gave her a small grin. "Huh, well good on you I guess…" he said, not knowing where to take the conversation any further.

Cherie just chuckled lightly and walked over to the blond before shucking off the cloak and handing it over to him. Though, she hesitated, her arm only half extended, eyes roaming up and down his body with a small frown forming on her face.

"What happened to your clothes?" she asked incredulously, the hand offering the cloak receding back to her hip as she stared at him in confusion.

Naruto cocked an eyebrow. "What's wrong with them?" He asked idly looking down at himself. Sure they were a bit torn up but it wasn't anything he couldn't stitch up...save for the boots, those would have to go.

"What's wrong with them!? They're ruined!" She said while pointing at a particularly large tear down the side of his leg. "What did you do? Lose a fight with a blender?"

Naruto just scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Nah, ran into some Grimm a few days ago." He said before frowning slightly. "Besides, I've fixed worse before. I mean, look at the cloak." He pointed out a rather large line of stitching down the back of the cloak.

She blinked a few times while examining the quality of the stitch he had made. Though, after a moment she shook her head and looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "Doesn't matter. You helped me out last night, and it's the least I could do to help you out too." she said before she started to walk past him, cloak wrapped up and tucked under her arm and the rabbits secured in the same hand. With her free hand she grabbed him by the arm and started to drag him with her.

"W-what the!? Where are we going!?" Naruto shouted in shock as he let his feet drag slightly, forcing the girl to drag him with a little more effort.

"Home! I owe you and you are going to get new clothes from me and like it!"

. . . .

 **Present**

. . . .

Naruto couldn't meet Velvet's eyes, his own gaze fixed firmly on the desk in front of him, his one hand idly running along his collarbone as he tried to piece together just what he wanted to say.

"Your sister…" he started after a moment's pause. "Cherie...She meant more to me than anyone I had ever known...I loved her, you know." Finally he raised his gaze to meet Velvet's own, and she could see the genuine sadness that filled his eyes. "She used to talk about you all the time and how they saved every lien they could just to send you off to Sanctum to become a Huntress. I stayed in your little village for nearly half a year...Me and Cherie were close...so close…" he trailed off as his gaze fell once more, his hand tightening into a fist, shaking as his nails bit into his skin.

Velvet however, wasn't swayed by his words. "You still haven't told me what happened." she ground out. "I know what you two were to each other. She talked to me about you almost every night. She called you her one and only...said you were so strong, and confident, and bright...what happened to her!?"

"I failed!" Naruto shouted, hand slamming on the desk and cracking the wood. His eyes bore into hers, pupils narrowed into slits as the smallest of tears began to well in the corner of his eyes.

"I had a house just outside of the towns walls...I liked my privacy like that." he started to explain once more, though, his tone of voice was biting with anger and regret. "She came to visit and…" he paused, trying to take a breath to calm himself. After a few shaking breaths he looked the girl in front of him in the eye once more, eyes hard as stone and unwavering.

"The town had been having trouble with bandits lately. And one day they came to my house since it was outside of the walls. Well, I chased them off and warned them to never come back...well...they came back, in force. Turns out they had been given weapons by some Mistral Noble who wasn't happy about the town turning down his offer of protection." he explained. "They surrounded the house when she was there. I told her to stay inside while I handled it...and...I made a mistake. They shot a dust cannon (basically an RPG) at me...I shouldn't have dodged...If I had just taken the hit...She...she wouldn't be…" he hung his head for a moment, a few tears falling from his eyes.

Velvet watched as the man before her began to break under the memory of what had happened. Her ears fell, eyes cast down as she learned just exactly what had happened to her sister.

Her family had no idea what happened. One day their daughter went over to her lovers home, and never returned. They went to find her, only to find the man's house destroyed, bodies everywhere, and her lover nowhere to be found.

"Why…" she started, getting Naruto glace up to her once more. "Why didn't you go to our parents? Why didn't you let us know what had happened?"

Naruto just shook his head and sighed, wiping away the few tears that had fallen. "Rage. Nothing more. I flew into a rage and killed everyone there. Then I went to hunt down the one who gave them the weapons...turns out I'm one of the most wanted people in Mistral now. Couldn't stay in Anima since they had search parties on the lookout for me...so, I came to Vale."

A silence over took the both of them, neither willing to continue talking. After a long moment, Velvet dug into one of her pockets and produced a small box. She placed it onto the desk and stood up from her chair and turned to leave. "That's all that we could recover from the house." she said before she grabbed the door handle. "Thank you...for telling me. But...please...my parents deserve to hear what had happened to their daughter." With that, she opened the door to the office and left, letting the door slowly close on it's own behind her.

Naruto stared at the box on his desk for a moment before hesitantly reaching over and taking it. He held it, just staring at it before he flipped the top open. A small tear streaked down his face as he looked at the contents.

It was a ring. A Silver band with a diamond in the center. It was far too small to fit any of his fingers, and he didn't dare touch it. It was engraved, he knew this, even though he couldn't see it. And he snapped the box closed as he thought of what it said.

 _Cherie Uzumaki, my one, and only_

. . . .

 **(A/N): To be continued…**

 **Hoooooo booooy….this is just a touch late ain't it? Gawd life just kicks me when I try to do anything. Sorry about the late update and (in my opinion) slightly subpar content of this chapter. Had to do a LOT of things in the past weeks and yeah...you ever stop a man from** _ **Assaulting**_ **a woman in the parking lot of where you work and had to have the cops get involved? I have...that wasn't fun.**

 **Anyway, I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter? I don't know about the ending part, I've been a bit hard pressed on time to really go back, edit, rewrite and such. Between Jury duty, the assault thing, and the fact I'm preparing a Homebrew Campaign for my D &D group, I've been lacking in the Fanfic time table. But yeah. **

**And to answer a comment about how Glynda is so flip floppy in how she wants the students to be treated. She doesn't want them to be treated like children, but she also doesn't want them to be beaten into unconsciousness by a** _ **TEACHER**_ **and exposed to things that they are not ready for. That is normal for a teacher.**

 **Anyway, expect a delay on the next chapter (le gasp! No way!?) Most of March for me is going to be pretty booked. I have Jury duty for the next like, week and after that I'm going to be in Ohio for like a week for a wedding so I won't be able to focus and write while there.**

 **Anyway (x3) see ya!**

 **Remember to REVIEW! And like always, I'll see ya next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER: I in no way own Naruto or RWBY...Y'all need to remember that…**

. . . .

From Dust Till Dawn

. . . .

Chapter 7: Relic Of The Past

. . . .

 _Cherie Uzumaki, my one, and only_

. . . .

Velvet...needed a moment to herself. It was late, almost midnight. Though, since second years didn't start classes till next week, they weren't held to the same curfew as the others that were already in classes. And so, she found herself alone in the library, sitting at one of the far tables towards the back, feet pulled back onto the chair and her knees pressed to her chest as she stared off at nothing in particular.

She pulled out her scroll and thumbed through the settings until she came across the photo gallery. Thumbing through various photos of herself, her teammates, even her parents, she came across the one she was looking for. It was a old picture of an even older picture, a way to make it last forever. The original picture was of two children. The taller one stood with her chin resting on the smaller ones head, flattening the smaller girls ears as they both smiled brightly for the camera. Velvet couldn't fight the small smile that came to her face as she soaked in the picture.

"I miss you, Cherie." she said to no one in particular. "I think you'd be proud of me so far. I've made it to my second year at Beacon, I've gotten pretty strong too." she said with a small chuckle. "My team is pretty good too. I think you'd like Coco a lot...I see a lot of you in her, ya know? Same sense for clothes…" she trailed off as she continued to stare at the scroll. She took a shuddering breath before she continued, holding the scroll up closer to herself.

"I...I don't know why you and _him_ got on so well. He's...so unlike you. So unlike how you explained him to be." she frowned slightly at the picture. "He's rude, and from the rumors I've been hearing, he's brutal. He doesn't seem like the bright, happy guy with a heart of gold you said he was…"

"Perhaps." a voice cut in causing Velvet's ears to perk up and her eyes to dart from the picture on her scroll.

"Perhaps he isn't those things at the moment," Ozpin continued, as he strode forward, can in hand, only stopping once he came up next to the girl. "But that doesn't mean he wasn't them before. Time has a strange affect on everyone and everything. And in each case, it's different." He set his cane to the side and took the open seat across from the girl, a small smile on his face as he relaxed into the seat.

Velvet couldn't find the words to speak, perplexed as to why her Headmaster was in the library so late at night, or the fact that he was talking to her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.

"It is rather late, Miss Scarlatina." he continued after a moment of silence, his smile never leaving his face. "I bet your team is worried where you've gone." with that, he stood from his seat and made his way out with his cane in hand. Though, before he made it out of sight he turned to her, his smile now a concerned frown. "Don't be so quick to judge someone while they are in mourning. Let time take its course, and see just who Mr. Uzumaki is then."

. . . .

Naruto stood on the cliff outside of the Emerald Forest, a deep frown formed across his face. "I need to cool off…" he growled to himself, fed up with crying, now wanting something to break instead. With a quick roll of the shoulder, he jumped high into the air and off of the cliff. He could feel the wind whip against his face as he quickly fell into the forest below, eyes squinted into a grimace as he plowed straight through the tops of the trees and to the forest floor, a small crater forming below him from the impact. Though, besides the bend in his knees, he showed no sign of injury or fatigue from the fall.

Stepping out of the crater he took a few steps forwards while rolling his neck, earning a few pops as he readied himself for what he was about to do. With a deep breath he closed his eyes, and let it all out. All of the pain he had been feeling for the past few years, all of the regret, and all the anger. He let it out with a pulse of his power, letting the emotions roll off of him like a beacon for the inhabitants of the forest.

It didn't take long for something to respond to his _challenge_. A pack of Beowolves rushed into the small clearing he had formed just by flaring his chakra outwards, pushing trees and brush away alike. There were twelve in total for the moment, and one seemed to be larger than the rest, most likely the alpha of the pack.

All Naruto did in response to their sudden appearance was quickly slip a kunai into his hand and wait, not moving an inch while the monstrosities surrounded him.

After a moment of calm, Naruto grew impatient. "Well? Come on then!" he yelled out, his chakra flaring on its own from his anger, causing the Beowolves to recoil in something akin to fright, shocked by the power rolling off of the human in front of them.

Naruto grunted in irritation as he noticed they wouldn't make the first move, and with a lazy flick of his wrist, he let the kunai fly.

A flash of silvery-black was all the Beowolf saw before the blade embedded itself in its skull, cutting straight through its armor, and killing it instantly. Using that brief moment of surprise, Naruto shot off towards the closest Grimm and slammed his fist into its chest, sending it flying into a tree where it instantly began to dissolve into nothing, dying from the impact.

"Two down…" he mumbled to himself before he ducked underneath a clawed swipe and sprung into a almost vertical kick, sending the beowolf into the air. Quickly righting himself, the blond shinobi quickly jumped into the air, over a second set of claws and met the airborne Grimm. With a quick axe kick he sent it back towards the ground, and crushing another beowolf along with it.

"Four down."

He side stepped another swing, pulling out a new kunai and slashed the beasts neck. Not even stopping to make sure it was dead he dashed forwards and jabbed the blade into another's eye, striking the brain. And with one final movement he ripped the knife out and threw it into a third beowolf's head, watching the beast fall in mid run. Disappearing in a blur of speed he quickly retrieved his blade and stared down the remaining Grimm.

"Seven down…"

Only five left, the Alpha having stepped back to watch the human while the smaller of its pack fought.

Naruto grunted in disappointment as he watched the seven corpses quickly fade away. These weren't the challenge or the relief he was looking for. He sighed as he lazily brought up his hand, the hum of chakra quickly sounding out as it coated his blade in a razor like edge of energy.

As if by some basic instinct, or just years of learning to survive, the Alpha managed to duck in time to avoid the ark of pure wind slashing towards it and its pack. The trees behind them fell as the wind sliced through them like they were nothing, the four Grimm left in the Alpha's pack dissolving before their bisected bodies could even fall to the ground.

Naruto saw that the Alpha had somehow survived his attack and hummed in amusement before he started to jog towards the beast. The Alpha looked up to the blond human running towards it and snarled in rage, swinging its arm out in hopes of catching the blond with its claws. Though its chances of hitting him were dashed as the blond ducked beneath the attack, quickly following with a uppercut to the beasts body, sending it into the air. Before it could fly too far out of reach, Naruto lashed out with his hand and caught it by its maw, quickly spinning around and slamming its head into the ground, shattering the earth with its skull and forming a small crater below himself.

Naruto stared down at the quickly dissolving Alpha with a look of boredom. Such weak creatures...how could they pose this much a threat to the warriors of this world? He sighed as he began to walk away, further into the forest. The night was young after all. He had plenty of time to try and find something to amuse himself with.

. . . .

Burning eyes watched him move. They watched him fight, and they watched him emerge victorious. Time and time again, for hours they watched as he tore through the shadows, sending them back to the darkness from whence they came. Only to seek out more, and do it all over again. The eyes watched and watched, and all the while, a sickening red glow burned brighter and brighter.

"My...what have we here? You are different from the rest...How very...interesting…"

. . . .

Naruto tore his Kunai out of the eye of a fallen Deathstalker and sighed as he returned it to his sheath. "It's almost morning...I should head back…" he said to no one in particular. He turned from the fading Grimm and began to walk back down the path he had taken to get there, the bodies of dozens upon dozens of Grimm fading from existence in his way. Though, after a few steps, he stopped, foot almost slamming against dirt as he felt something off around him.

 _!_

His eyes snapped wide as he spun on his heel, eyes searching for whatever it was that he felt. "There it is…" he growled to himself, that damned presence in the forest. Before where it was fleeting, and almost impossible to pin down, it was now almost overwhelming. A beacon of energy shining out for him to follow.

His pace was fast, his body a blur of movement as he followed whatever this was. He pushed deeper and deeper into the forest, scarcely paying attention to the moss covered stone work he passed on his way, the overgrown pavement he stepped on, or the severe lack of Grimm in his path as he moved.

And then, he came to his goal. A small house sat between a tree and a small river, long overgrown with various mosses and vines from the forest floor. The single window next to the rotted wooden door wide open with what looked like a few saplings growing out of it from inside the hovel of a home.

"What...is this place?" he asked no one as he walked up to the house, the presence prodding at his brain, begging him to step into the house. He reached to push what was left of the door open, but stopped his hand as he placed it against the ancient door.

" _Well? Aren't you going to open it?"_

His eyes narrowed as a voice whispered from behind him. It was young, almost...familiar. He turned his head to face the voice, hand never leaving the door. He looked down at the source in shock, unable to form words as he stood there, mouth ajar and unmoving.

It was himself, younger, thinner, and _much_ shorter. The smaller blond wore a white shirt that seemed to be a few sizes too large for his tiny frame, coupled with his blue shorts and tattered sandals. His large blue eyes stared up at the taller blond in confusion.

" _You are...Aren't you? You wanted to see what's inside, right?"_ The boy continued, a tilt of his head emphasizing his question. " _What do you think is inside? Do you think it could be something that can help us?"_

"H-help...us?" Naruto stuttered, unable to comprehend just what was happening.

" _Yeah! That's why we're here right? You want help don't you?"_

"H-help with what?"

" _Going back duh? Isn't that what you want? To go home? Be with everyone again?"_

"That can't happen...they-they're dead, I didn't break the Infinite Tsukuyomi, it's been so lo-"

" _How do you know? Maybe they're still alright, maybe what's in there can help!"_

"But what if it won't?"

" _But what if it will?"_

"But what if it won't?"

" _But what if it will?"_

"But what if it won't?"

" _But what if it will?"_

"But what if it won't!?"

" _Then you'll have to make that choice!"_

"I-I-"

" _Choose!"_

"I ca-"

" _Choose!"_

"I can't…"

" _ **Choose!"**_

Naruto's eyes snapped open with a start, panting heavily as he searched his surroundings in a panic. He was laying down, in a bed, _where?_ His room, in Beacon. Sweat poured down his body as he shakily stood from his bed and wandered into the bathroom, staggering in and heavily leaning against his sink. His blue eyes stared at himself from inside the mirror, a haunted look in them as he tried to control his breathing.

" _Choose…"_

He yelled as his reflection spoke, falling back and sliding to the wall, breath panting even heavier than before.

"Wha-...What in the hell…"

. . . .

Team RWBY and JNPR were quiet as they sat in the cafeteria for breakfast. It was only the third day of classes and-

"Did you hear? Two of the first year teams already dropped out!"

Yeah. That. Word spread quick that both Teams WHTT and TNGR dropped out shortly after their first day of Survival Training. It was...and eye opening experience for sure, but to drop out so easily? Where they so weak that they could not handle the thought that they might have to lay down their lives in the future for the better of others? Wasn't that why they were here? To help people even if it meant giving yourself to do so?  
Ruby sighed as she heard the other tables whisper and gossip, these thoughts passing through her as she feebly ate her pancakes.

"Ugh, we get it, people dropped out, can someone find anything else to talk about?" Yang groaned out, breaking the tables silence as she flopped her head down onto the table in exasperation.

Jaune and Ren looked at each other and shrugged, not knowing what to say and deciding to sit back.

Weiss on the other hand, "well, we could talk about our classes for _today_ if it bothers you so much." tried to give out a change in topic, which was met with another groan from Yang. With a huff the Ice Queen went back to her food. "At least I'm trying…" she grumbled under her breath, earning a small smirk from her partner.

The rest of the table remained quiet, save for Nora who was absent mindedly trying to start up a conversation on Pancake flavors with Ren. Pyrrha just sat next to Jaune, not knowing how to start up any conversations with the relatively new group. Jaune followed her lead, not really wanting to ruin anyone's already down mood. Blake, the ever aloof girl she was, was buried in a book, not even paying attention to the conversation.

They sat in relative silence for a spell before Ruby set down her fork and looked to her sister. "What do you think Professor Uzumaki meant when he said that we should think about what we want as Huntsmen? Isn't it already obvious?"

Yang blinked in confusion, head popping up to look at her sister. "Uh, yeah? Where's all this coming from?"

"I-I dunno? I'm just confused why everyone is so shocked at what he said? It's like uncle Qrow used to say, being a huntsman isn't all fun and games, it's a job to help people, and sometimes you'd have to put yourself in harms way to do that." The little reaper said, getting a somewhat shocked look from most of the occupants of the table. "W-What?" Why were they looking at her like that?

"Oh sorry, you actually said something pretty mature for once, just...shocking is all." Weiss replied for the group, who nodded in agreement. Ruby folded her arms with an angry pout as she leaned back in her chair, looking away from the rest of them who started to chuckle at her expense.

Yang sighed as she stopped laughing and leaned back down on the table. "Ah don't act like that sis, you know we love you." She snickered, hoping to lighten everyone's mood a bit more. Though she cocked an eyebrow when the red headed reaper didn't respond. "Ruby?"

She looked up and noticed her sister had dropped her pout, and a worried look was on her face instead. Yang followed her gaze out the cafeteria window and noticed what she was looking at.

There he was, the topic of conversation, Naruto Uzumaki. He was walking by the cafeteria, though stumbling seemed more like the appropriate term. The guy looked like a mess, covered in sweat, pale, and looked to be breathing pretty hard as he made his way past.

"Jeez what happened to him?" Yang thought aloud, getting the rest of the table to look.

"I-I don't know? You think he's alright?" Ruby asked, only looking away once he was out of sight.

"He seemed distressed?" Ren stated, earning a few nods from the rest of the table.

They would have continued, were it not for the bell to ring, signaling the ten minute warning before classes began.

"Well, whatever it is, it's not our problem. Come on, I don't want to be late for class." Weiss said as she got up from the table, the rest slowly following behind.

Ruby though, looked back out the window, a worried look in her eyes as she hesitated to follow.

"Ruby!"

"Coming!"

. . . .

Naruto clawed his hand against elevator button in the wall and once the doors opened slumped against the wall inside. He had never felt this before. This ache, this heat, this... _power_. Sheer unadulterated power was pulsing through him, and he felt as though he was going to be torn apart if he didn't release it somehow.

What was happening? He felt so much power within him yet he could barely stand, hell it took his all to even stay awake at this moment. Was it the _thing_ in the forest? No. That things power was nothing compared to this. That would of been like comparing a puddle to a grand ocean.

He thought on this on the way up, and only three floors from his destination did it occur to him. He hadn't checked on them for almost two years, almost completely forgot. He had been lost in his own suffering that he left them to themselves.

"Mister Uzumaki?" Ozpin called from his desk as the doors to the elevator opened, showing a shocked Naruto, pale and covered in sweat, sitting on the floor of the elevator.

" _ **Ugh...brat...what year is it?"**_

The Biju were awake.

"Mister Uzumaki are you alright?" Ozpin called again, this time getting up and moving towards the elevator. Cane in hand.

' _Hold on Kurama, be right with you.'_ The blond told the fox, bleary eyes fixed on the older huntsman before him. "Not another step old man."

Ozpin froze at those growled out words. The boys eyes were red as blood now, pupils slit like a beasts. "What is in that forest old man?" The blond growled, showing fangs he did not have before.

"I don't know what you mean, Mister Uzumaki. Now, are you al-" he was cuz off as something even he could not see flee past his cheek, putting a quarter sized hole in the window behind him. He could feel something wet running down his cheek. He didn't need to be a genius to know what it was.

"The next one goes between your eyes. Now tell me. What. The fuck. Is in that forest?"

" _ **Woah what's got the kid all uppity about?"**_ Son Goku asked his voice strain and hoarse.

" _ **I dunno but can you both shut up, my head feels like it's going to split…"**_ Matatabi quipped.

Ozpin stared at the young man before him, scenarios of countless events playing through his mind in but an instant, and after a few seconds silence, he nodded with a sigh and turned towards his desk. "Come Mister Uzumaki, you'll want to sit in a chair for this." He called as he sat back at his desk, running his hands over his face in contemplation.

With quite a bit of visual effort, Naruto peeled himself off of the floor and lumbered into the office, slumping into a chair across from the headmaster.

" _ **Brat, what's going on, who is this man?"**_

' _LATER.'_ Naruto internally ground out as he kept a mask of calm before Ozpin. Though, the glowing red eyes did a bit to distort that image.

"Tell me, mister Uzumaki, what is you favorite fairytale?"

…

" _ **Who the fuck is he?"**_

Dammit Shukaku.

"Cut the bullshit, I don't care about Fairytales." Naruto growled impatiently, the heat in the room seemed to rise, or was it him? What was going on? He was sweating up a storm and his breath was becoming ragged.

" _ **Oh...this isn't good."**_

" _What Isobu."_

" _ **You're overloading on Chakra, your coils haven't had the time to expand enough for the influx of our full chakra to safely integrate itself into you."**_

" _Bullshit, it's been nearly seven years, how have I_ 'Not had the time' _!?"_

Kurama perked up at that. " _ **What do you mean sev-"**_ though he was interrupted when Naruto's attention transferred back to Ozpin.

"Are you sure you're up for this conversation right now, Mr. Uzumaki?" The old man said, leaning back in his chair as he watched the younger Jinchuuriki sweat and pant in front of him, the boy's eyes frantically changing colors from blue to red and even gold. What an enigma.

"No, not really…" the boy weezed, struggling to get the words out without cringing. After a quick moment Naruto's eyes widened as an idea came to him. " _Overloading huh…"_ He could hear a deep chuckle in the back of his mind. Responding to his thoughts.

" _ **Oh, I just came back and I'm already liking what you're planning brat…"**_ Kurama chuckled with a dark grin, a few of the other Biju grinned as well, while others just seemed to stay out of the conversation all together.

"You...know what might help old man?" Naruto asked between breaths, his shifting eyes settling on red for the moment. Ozpin felt a cold bead sweat of sweat go down his back at the look the young man was sending him. It was almost feral in a way, almost...bloodthirsty.

"What might that be, Mr. Uzumaki?" The stare was beginning to strike a memory, one he could have sworn he's seen before.

"I haven't had a proper spar in a long while with anyone that could keep up…" Naruto lead before letting the sentence end itself, leaving the meaning hanging in the air. Ozpin swallowed, leaning forwards and adjusting his glasses as he did so.

"And why Mr. Uzumaki, does this matter to me? Surely someone of your talents could find a suitable way of training in your own time, and I believe we had other things to discuss." Naruto grinned at this, something that sent a feeling of dread through the headmaster.

"Yeah, we do, but I'm sort of on a...time limit here, before something bad happens. I need to get this energy out before it's put to very bad use, if you get my meaning? And why not make this fun, you can talk while you fight can't you? For every hit I get, you answer a question, and for every one you get, I'll answer one for you."

Ozpin stared at the boy for a long moment, drinking in this proposal. After almost a minute of thought, Ozpin clenched his eyes shut and pulled out his scroll, placing it on his desk. After a second the scroll lit up as well with the desk itself. Pressing on an icon that appeared on his desk, Ozpin waited for a moment before a small window appeared on the desk, the image of Glynda Goodwitch appearing inside.

"You called sir?" she asked over the video call.

"Come to my office immediately, I need your assistance with something." he said simply before ending the call there, his voice terce and to the point. Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the man before he shakily stood to his feet.

"What was-" he started before Ozpin fixed him with a look.

"...It wouldn't be a good fight if it was just me. Even in the state you are in now you'd with without a doubt. I'm just evening the playing field." Besides, the power that was radiating off the boy was astronomically higher than anything he could hope to match. Maybe back when he was whole, before the maidens, he could have stood up to him. But now, with his limited power and older body, he'd be destroyed if he truly wanted to face him.

Naruto just smirked at him though, the thought of maybe having a good fight for the first time in nearly seven years seemed like a dream.

"Alright...You're on old man."

. . . .

 **(A/N): To be continued…**

 **Hahahaha….not dead yet mother fuckers! Just on the verge ;)**

 **Sorry for the...** _ **LONG**_ **wait but I had a little thing called life get in the way...I apologize. Had some shit happen. Was in and out of the ER for a while, served some court stuff, had quite a few 40+ hour weeks, still running a D &D campaign, had a pretty bad breakup, and general writers block...still not sure how I feel about this chapter...especially after writing and rewriting it six (or was it seven?) times...**

 **Anyway, I am SHOOK by the amount of follows and favorites this story has, like, I'm intimidated by the sheer size OwO**

 **I still can't guarantee a set schedule of release for this since I have A LOT going on in irl, but I will say that this is definitely not a dead story, just one that takes a while :/**

 **Remember to REVIEW! And like always, I'll see ya next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**(IMPORTANT NOTICE IN THE A/N)**

 **DISCLAIMER: I in no way own Naruto or RWBY...Y'all need to remember that…**

. . . .

From Dust Till Dawn

. . . .

Chapter 8: Questions with a side of Answers

. . . .

" _...It wouldn't be a good fight if it was just me. Even in the state you are in now you'd win without a doubt. I'm just evening the playing field." Besides, the power that was radiating off the boy was astronomically higher than anything he could hope to match. Maybe back when he was whole, before the maidens, he could have stood up to him. But now, with his limited power and older body, he'd be destroyed if he truly wanted to face him._

 _Naruto just smirked at him though, the thought of maybe having a good fight for the first time in nearly seven years seemed like a dream._

" _Alright...You're on old man."_

. . . .

" _Last time on Dragon Force X, our heroes found themselves cornered by the vicious Abra, and it's heinous Wizard master Cadabra. Can Wukong and Vega stand to face these overwhelming odds? Find out now, on Dragon Force X!"_

Jaune grinned at his scroll while he watched one of his favorite shows, though he failed to notice Pyrrha's disapproving gaze. "Jaune, in class? Really?" she whispered, giving the blond a hard nudge with her elbow.

Jaune jumped slightly and nearly dropped his scroll. After scrambling to make sure it stayed from clattering to the ground. The blond gave Pyrrha a nervous laugh and smile. "C-come on Pyrrha, you know how boring Professor Port-" he started to say before he was interrupted.

Peter Port, the portly professor of Grimm Studies and Anatomy was telling the tail of how he had defeated a rather devious Beringal with his quick wits, a hammer, and a belt when he suddenly stopped, bracing himself as the ground began to shake. The entire school began to shake for a moment before it settled. Some students had fallen out of their seats, others rather violently woken up from their impromptu nap in class.

"Wha-woah! What the wha!?" Yang shouted as she fell from her seat, abruptly waking up from her nap. "The heck was that!?" she shouted, her voice gaining a few yells of agreement and further questions.

"Everyone settle down!" Port yelled out, trying to calm the class. "There's nothing to fear. That was undoubtedly a side effect of a test Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch are currently conducting. Now, if we can return to class?" He explained, waiting a few moments for the class to settle down. He was happy Glynda decided to send out a blast of messages to the other professors about possible accidents and interruptions, but whatever trouble was going on, he was sad to not be apart of it. "Now where were we? Ah! Right, so then I wrapped the belt arounds the beasts ankles and blah, blah, blah…"

. . . .

 **10 minutes earlier**

. . . .

Glynda didn't know what to expect while she stood in the elevator headed towards Ozpin's office. She had heard the man speak the way he had a handful of times, and each of those times involved either something to do with the Maidens, or _her_. So as of this moment, she was wracking her brain for anything that could have set him off, and what the implications of it would mean.

" _Does he think what happened the night I met with Miss Rose has anything to do with the Witch? I mean, surely it is a rather large surprise a mere criminal such as Roman could have an accomplice able to trade blows with myself, but would that really-"_ her thoughts were cut off as the door to the elevator opened, showing her the office and the current inhabitants.

"Mr. Uzumaki?" she questioned with a raised brow and a wary look in her eyes. The man looked like a wreck, sweat pouring down his skin and what looked to be... _steam_ raising off of his body. Almost like he was generating so much heat that he was literally steaming compared to the relatively cool room.

"Ah, Miss Goodwitch, please hold the door for us, I'll inform you of what's going on while we move." Ozpin cut off any further questions as both he and Naruto moved to enter the open elevator, which Glynda made sure to keep open for them.

Once the three were inside Ozpin tapped his cane against a hidden panel in the wall where it then slid away showing a new floor botton. Naruto observed that there were no indicators for this one, and that once Ozpin pressed the button, the lights inside dimmed and the elevator began to decline at a rather fast pace.

Glynda whipped her head at Ozpin in shock, idly trying move away from Naruto, the heat he was putting off was incredibly uncomfortable. "Ozpin!? You can't be-"

"He found the Vault Glynda." Her jaw shut with a click as the old Professor's words cut off any further statements from her. "Mr. Uzumaki wants answers, and suggested a...game of sorts to get the answers he wants out of us. We are to spar, and any hits one makes against the other earn a question that will be answered. Am I understood, Glynda?" His voice was tense, his body rigid, and his eyes more serious than she thought she had ever seen before.

"Heh," Naruto chuckled slightly after Ozpin's words. "Thanks for eliminating one of my questions for me. A vault huh? Wonder what's inside?"

" _ **Hey brat, what are you saying? You're speakin' the same gibberish they are!"**_ Shukaku shouted out, irritated that he couldn't understand the conversation.

" _We're gonna fight and he's gonna answer some questions I have."_ was the blonds quick reply, eyes not leaving the old professor for a second.

" _ **You know, since we got some time, why don't you fill us in kid?"**_ Gyuuki spoke up, wanting to know just what was going on...and what the odd feeling he was getting from the white haired man was.

" _I'd rather do it later...kind of a long story anyway. Just let me focus on this alright? I haven't had a good fight in a while and I think the old man here is more than what he seems...don't want to get caught off guard."_

Kurama snorted in mirth. " _ **Well, would you look at that. I leave for a little while and the kid grows a brain. I don't know if I should be proud, or scared for this world."**_

" _Well, when you're on your own for almost seven years, you need to grow and use your head a bit more often."_ the blond bit back, a little more venom in his tone than he actually intended. That shut the Bijuu up altogether. Kurama stared at his host and truly looked at him, observed his entire being for the first time since waking up.

' _ **What...happened to you kid? What made you change so much?'**_ This wasn't the same brat he left those years ago. He'd grown, and not in a completely good way. Sure, he seemed to be a bit smarter, and carried himself with a little more poise, but his smile was gone. That large grin and bright eyes were nowhere to be seen, replaced by a frown, and eyes like ice. It was...honestly scary for the fox to see now.

The elevator opened with a soft ding, revealing a enormous hallway, the green torchlights barely covering the room and failing to reach the high ceilings. Naruto couldn't even make out the end of the hall, the room just seemed to go on and on forever...and he could feel something at the end of the hall. It was faint, but it was there. Something like what was in the forest, but again, not as strong. Not as oppressive. Not as... _there_. He wasn't able to focus further on the feeling, Ozpin and Glynda leaving him behind in the elevator.

"Now Mr Uzumaki, I believe from this point on, any questions you have are best left for the fight." Ozpin started before giving Goodwitch a look. With a nod the blond took a few steps back, crop in hand and eyes watching her fellow blond for any slight movement.

"Since you issued the challenge, I'll make the rules. Firstly, no killing blows. If one of our Aura's should drop to zero, they are out of the fight. Secondly, only physical hits will count for a question. And lastly, try not to destroy the columns around us. Wouldn't want the entirety of Beacon to come crashing down around us now would we?" Naruto nodded to all of this, not finding in reason to disagree. He took a few steps away from them, standing in the center of the hall he waited for them to ready themselves while he bounced from foot to foot, loosening himself. He could still feel the enormous amounts of chakra running through him, making his veins feel as if they had lava flowing through them, thick and heavy, burning from the inside out. He needed to expel as much chakra as he could in this fight while not killing either of the two in front of him, as well as not destroying everything around him. He smirked slightly, knowing Ozpin put him in a pretty tight position here since he couldn't use anything over the top without destroying everything around him.

Ozpin readied his cane, giving a quick glance to Glynda, seeing her nod he turned his gaze back to Naruto and narrowed his eyes.

"Alright, let's begin."

In a blur of speed, one so fast it even caught Naruto off guard, Ozpin moved, quickly bring his cane up for a stab towards the blonds chest. It was only by pure instinct that Naruto brought his arm up, catching the end of the cane on his palm and blocking the blow. Only for the force from the canes strike to blast a hole straight through his palm.

Ozpin and Glynda's eyes widened in shock as his blood flew through the air, a few drops landing on the old professors cheek. Though, as if not even feeling his hand being impaled, Naruto moved, slinging the cane to the side and lunging forwards with a elbow aimed at the professors neck. Again, in a blur, this time with a faint green like field around his body Ozpin moved, just barely dodging back out of the blow.

Taking his time to make some distance, Ozpin gave the blond a wary look. "I...believe the first strike goes to myself?" Glancing at the blonds hand, he noticed a small amount of steam leaving it, leaving the hand unscathed. "...Why did your aura not protect you?" he asked, his first question of the game.

Naruto just shrugged in response. "Cuz I don't have one." was his simple reply. Before Ozpin could press further, Naruto settled himself into a more serious stance than before. His legs were bent and his arm up defensively. "I believe that was your one question, now, let's get back to it."

" _ **Weren't expecting him to be so fast, were you brat?"**_ Kurama shot out, a small frown on his face. The kid was used to weaker opponents. Too cocky. He'd learned after the first strike. He wouldn't be caught again like that.

This time, both Ozpin and Naruto blurred out of view, moving faster than the average human eye could follow. They appeared, Ozpin's cane against Naruto's fist, before they disappeared again.

Glynda did her best to follow, keeping an eye out for the best time to step in. It didn't take long either. After the fourth clash between the two, Naruto was able to send Ozpin flying through the air with a strong kick, though the man had brought his cane up to block it, he was still sent flying from the sheer strength of the blow.

Using that lapse in combat, she shot her crop out, focusing her semblance on the blond. A small purple energy appeared in front of the man, making his eyes widen before he in a split second reaction blitzed to the side, avoiding the shockwave that was sent out from his position. Glynda cursed under her breath for the miss, but then started a whole string of curses as her fellow blond's eyes landed on her for the first time in the fight.

"That was close, but, not close enough." he said before he blasted forwards, a small boom following his movements.

" _Did he just break the sound barrier!?"_ The professor screamed to herself before she sent a wave of telekinetic power over the surrounding area around herself, blocking the blond from approaching. Naruto clicked his teeth as he quickly jumped back, noticing the ground crack around the woman's feet.

" _So she's like Nagato. She's got some sort of force field wall thing she can throw up to keep me from getting close…"_ he stopped his train of thought to block another strike from Ozpin, who had recovered himself during the two blond's encounter. Naruto quickly weaved his head around a thrust from the man's cane, his arm snaking forwards and sinking his palm into the older professors solar plexus. Causing the man's green aura to flair up and absorb most of the blow, but not enough to keep him from coughing in pain, while he was sent flying back towards Glynda.

Goodwitch quickly helped man by catching him with her semblance, lowering him gently to the ground. Ozpin was holding his stomach, grimacing in pain from the blow. Naruto just smirked at them and prepared to ask his question. Though, the two professors noticed him drop about an inch to the floor with a soft tap.

' _ **He's been channeling wind nature chakra to the souls of his feet, making a sort of jet stream to propel himself forwards and give him better agility...smart, he wouldn't be able to keep up in dexterity or speed without using my chakra or Sage mode, so he came up with something to even the field and burn chakra at the same time...at a pretty steady and large rate too. Smart brat, smart.'**_ Kurama thought to himself as Naruto thought of his first question.

"So, I'm just gonna cut to the chase. What's in the forest Ozpin?" he asked, a hard tone to his voice as he stared the man down. Though, the old man seemed find humor in this as he chuckled lightly and gave his answer.

"Trees, birds, the occasional Grimm or two, there are many things in the forest Mr. Uzuma-" He was cut of as Naruto lashed out with his arm towards one of the pillars. A stream of almost visible wind clashed with the stone and after a short second, bursts into several thousand pieces, crumbling the pillar causing the entire room to shake, and no doubt the entire school as well.

"Don't bullshit me old man, or I might do something neither of us will like." Naruto growled out. Both Ozpin and Glynda pailed in shock as they watched the blond gamble with the entire school, basically holding everyone hostage under threat of probable death. "So, next time I ask a question, don't be a little shit. Answer it with the _correct_ answer, and we won't have a problem." Ozpin didn't even have time to nod before the blond was on them again.

' _This'_ the old man thought to himself as he felt his arms shake from blocking another of Naruto's attacks. ' _Was a huge mistake…'_

The blond was relentless, forcing the older man to rely heavily on his semblance to avoid direct damage.

Projections.

To some, it would seem like a trivial and useless ability. To project a partial copy of yourself using your aura as a medium would seem like a double edged sword, having to stop channeling your aura as a defensive shield to possibly surprise your opponent with a quick strike would leave you wide open for a possibly fatal attack. However, those people who would scoff at such a semblance did not have the decades, even _centuries_ of experience that Ozpin had using it. He could masterfully evade attacks while his projections intercepted the attack, all the while creating so many projections of himself in a flash of movement, it would seem like simply blurred in place. **(Think Vol 3 Ch 12 at 1:42)**

His projections did not stop at copies of himself, he could even form shields with them, ranged attacks, or even decoys of himself. However, even with all his skill and experience he was not invincible.

Simply, he could be overpowered. Though it was a near impossible feat to accomplish with his speed and skill, to simply get an attack close enough to where even if a projection could block the strike, that the strike would just go through it to himself was something he could not handle. And sadly, the opponent he was facing now could do so with _ease_.

Ozpin rocketed through the air as Naruto struck straight through one of his projections, the old man barely blocking the attack with his body in time to evade direct damage, but not enough to avoid the slight cracking he could feel in his arms. He was saved from any follow ups by Glynda as Naruto found himself being shot backwards against his will by the blond womans semblance.

As the two came to their respective stops, Naruto having righted himself in mid air with a bit of wind control and Ozpin being caught by Glynda, they waited for a brief moment, thinking of a new way forward before the two charged again.

Glynda waited for the two to almost meet each other before acting. Using her semblance to stall her fellow blond with a quick pulse of energy, she allowed Ozpin the chance to put the younger man on the back foot before she took the rubble the blond man created from the the pillar to form two spear like tentacles. She brought them around and struck at the blond man once he and Ozpin were far enough apart.

Only to have the rubble scattered by another powerful blast of wind, shedding the rocks to a fine dust. She cursed to herself when Naruto dodged a lunge from the Headmaster and seemed to glide across the battlefield towards her, a small knife sliding its way into his hand. She sent a wave of force around her like she did before, and like before, the man stopped his charge and jumped back, but this time he threw the knife in his hand. It flew towards her at bullet like speeds, maybe even faster, and it was only the luckiest of reflexes that she was able to halt the blade with her semblance.

The razor sharp Kunai stopped an inch away from her face. Much like the time she barged into his room, the blade was only stopped just before it hit, though, unlike last time, she felt a bit of wetness trail down her cheek.

A thin cut formed on her cheek, her aura flickering to compensate for the unseen attack. The blade that hung in the air had a slight shimmer around it. Naruto had channeled a small amount of wind chakra into it before throwing, and it had the desired effect.

He smirked at the two of them. "Now, I believe I get another question…"

Glynda swallowed slightly at the blonds words.

' _This was a bad idea…'_

. . . .

" _ **So four chicks with special super powers that aren't like the super powers everyone else has, can open a vault that leads to what's basically the foundation that makes humanity human?"**_

" _That sounds about right, yeah."_ Naruto nodded as he leaned back in his desk chair, making notes-both mentally and physically-on what he found out from Ozpin, making sure to write everything down in his native script so no one would be able to read it.

Kurama just sighed in frustration from within Naruto's mindscape. The other Bijuu decided to sleep and rest from the transfer over, leaving Kurama and Naruto to catch up alone. " _ **Just when we get out of one crazy scenario we're thrown into another."**_ The beast growled out, laying his head down over his paws with a vexed expression.

"Pfft, maybe for you, but I've been getting kinda bored over here." The blond quipped as he got up and moved to his room. "It's been almost seven years since I had anything to do. Honestly I've just been drifting around trying to find something worth doing." The blond plopped himself down on his bed with a loud sigh. "Trying to find a purpose...I thought I found it with Cherrie, but…"

" _ **...I'm...sorry, about the girl, kit. I can tell she meant a lot to you."**_

"Yeah, she did. I was gonna marry that woman, Kurama. Besides," he started with a determined look in his eye. "I think I have something now. Teaching these kids, getting them ready for the fight to come. Hell, maybe even getting into it myself? There's more to this than what Ozpin is willing to tell me...and those Relics are more than they seem. I think my purpose is to find out just what that is..." A loud sigh broke out from the blond as he heaved himself out of his bed and towards the door.

" _ **Where are you going?"**_

"I've had a lot of shit happen to me in the last week than I've had in the last couple of years. I'm gonna do what every sane person would. I'm getting a drink!"

. . . .

"...we didn't get anything from that…" Glynda groaned from her seat in Ozpin's office, a fresh ice pack pressed to a fading bruise on her forehead.

Ozpin groaned slightly from where he was hunched over his desk. "We got a few things…" he mumbled, a few bandages wrapped around his forehead and a splint was on his arm, the aftereffects of being the vanguard against an Uzumaki. He could feel his ribs screaming in pain every time he breathed, and he was most certainly sure that he was going to have a concussion for at least a week.

"The fact that he doesn't have an aura and can control wind don't really equal what he got from us…"

"...fair."

Glynda stood up with a slight wince, the only one of the two who could actually move around without falling over in pain. "I'm gonna go...I need to rest after all that." The only response she earned from the headmaster was a grunt and quiet whimper.

After getting into the elevator out of Ozpin's office, she leaned against the wall and let out a loud, irritated groan. "Ugh...I need a drink…" Another groan. "...now I sound like Qrow... _wonderful_ …"

. . . .

 **(A/N): To be continued…**

 **Hey! That one was quicker than the last one! PROGRESS!**

 **Ehem, anyway, Thanks for sticking around with my...less than stellar update rate. I 'preciate y'all.**

 **So, about Ozpin's semblance, since they showed him fighting in V3 I had this idea in my head. I know he's supposed to be based on the Wizard of Oz, so the whole, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" thing stuck with me and how the 'Great and powerful' Oz was just a projection from the guy. I have a large rant on how I think that's what his semblance is, if you want to read, it PM me :D**

 **Also, Naruto using Wind Chakra like some sort of wind surfer? YAS PLZ**

 **IMPORTANT MESSAGE**

 **You know...I never thought I would do this...but I did. I made a ...good lord what have I done.**

 **I feel like a sell out, but in all honesty, if I could get** _ **any**_ **help from this, I'd actually be able to take more time off from work and have more time to write and STUFF.**

 **So, if you are interested in supporting me in more ways that following, favoriting, and reviewing, you can head over to. P -slash- Bulbanation !**

 **MESSAGE OVER**

 **Remember to REVIEW! Or support me on P -slash- Bulbanation, and like always, I'll see ya next time!**


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER: I in no way own Naruto or RWBY...Y'all need to remember that…**

. . . .

From Dust Till Dawn

. . . .

Chapter 9: Take one down, pass it around

. . . .

 _After getting into the elevator out of Ozpin's office, she leaned against the wall and let out a loud, irritated groan. "Ugh...I need a drink…" Another groan. "...now I sound like Qrow...wonderful…_

 _. . . ._

Naruto stares at the building in front of him in mild annoyance, a slight twitch starting to form in one of his eyes.

 **FORECLOSED BY VALE POLICE DEPARTMENT**

"I'm not angry…" there was police tape all over the windows. "I'm not angry…" a few detectives were walking out the doors, cameras and bags of evidence in hand. "I'm angry…" Lisa Lavender was standing by the entrance of the building, speaking to the VNN news camera about how the notorious Hei "Junior" Xiong escaped arrest after a fight broke out in his club. Later evidence that he was running his illegal information network was found and he was currently wanted for espionage, grand larceny, and treason against the kingdom of Vale.

"I'm very angry…"

" _ **That's rough kid."**_ Gyuki decided to input his opinion, idly searching through Naruto memories. Only searching through the last month or so, just so he'd know where they were and what was important. " _ **Wow, if you didn't want to be a Hunter-or whatever-you could have been a pretty high dollar bartender."**_

Naruto grumbled to himself as he turned away from the shutdown club. "Eh, it was a living. Only really did it cuz Junior knew who was who in the city. Having him around was the best way to keep up with what happens in the city since the media is heavily censored."

" _ **Censored?"**_

"Well, when you live in a world where your natural predator is attracted to negative emotions. You don't really want your populace to panic or be worried about all the darker things that happen around the city. Especially stuff like what Junior and his crew got into."

" _ **Huh, makes sense...though a little controlling."**_

"I mean...yeah. But that's the world I guess?" The blond shrugged as he walked away. " _Now to find a new place to get plastered at…"_ He thought to himself as he made his way back into the more pedestrian side of Vale. He passed several bars and various kinds of clubs as he went through downtown Vale, the people of this world not ones to shy away from a bit of revelry to ward off the Grimm. However, these places didn't have what he... _required_ , in a good bar.

Clubs he could handle, though not being one for the music or random people trying to talk to him, he decided to veto the options he came across. And most bars didn't have the selection he would need to even get a buzz. Having Nine entities of pure power and energy in your body constantly healing him made getting anything from alcohol a challenge in itself.

" _ **Why not go into that one?"**_ Kurama grumbled as the blond passed by what had to of been the eighth bar.

" _Look at the clientele, what do you see?"_

" _ **Humans brat, a bunch of normal looking humans."**_ The Bijuu snarkily replied, not understanding the question.

" _Exactly."_ The Shinobi responded. " _A bunch of normal people. People who could probably just have a few beers or shots and be well onto their way away from sobriety."_ He explained as he gave another look at the people in and outside of the bar. " _They wouldn't have anything there that would be able to affect me."_

" _ **Che, I bet now that we're awake nothing would really be able to affect you."**_

" _Well, you see my furry friend. Me and the people of this world share a...let's say a common enemy when it comes to finding a way to getting drunk off our asses."_ The blond smirked as he finally made it back to the Bullhead docks that lead back to Beacon.

" _ **Explain."**_

" _Jeez, patient much."_ Naruto huffed as he quickly moved to get onto a Bullhead that was just about to take off back to the school. Flashing the Pilot his Huntsman ID Ozpin oh so graciously made for him, he took a seat inside and waited for take off.

" _It just so happens that people who have their Aura unlocked have a very hard time getting drunk off of normal stuff. Since it is always passively healing them, much like you all do."_ After a few other students entered the ship it took off, flying quickly back to the school at the top of the cliff overlooking the Kingdom's capital. " _So, they made something special just for them that can bypass someone's Aura and actually work like intended."_

" _ **...Should I be impressed that a bunch of drunks got together to make something to get them even more drunk, or worried that this was somehow a priority for these people in the first place?"**_

Naruto sighed with a small grin as he looked out the window to the slowly shrinking city below him. " _Like I said, since their natural predator is attracted to negative emotions, people had to find a way to get as much of those out of everyday life as possible. It's why they have so many more holidays than we had back home. They allow basically everything outside of harmful drugs here because it makes people happy and keeps them that way. It's honestly one of the best-if not the best-defences against the Grimm that these people have."_

" _ **I guess that makes sense. I do sense very few strong negative emotions coming from that entire city. Which honestly, is quite the accomplishment. Between the disease, poverty, criminal activity, and death that usually comes with cities of this size, they're usually a cesspit of negativity and despair."**_

" _I guess the people of this world grew to be more optimistic. I mean, it was either learn to be happy or die."_ The blond chuckled as the Bullhead touched down and the Beacon docks. He quickly got off, but did not head towards the school itself. All around the school were various buildings. All ranging between different dorms, apartments, Huntsman based stores, and of course, Bars that catered to exactly what any Huntsman would ever need.

"I never got to try this place out, but I heard it's pretty great…" He mumbled to himself as he stood outside a little hole-in-the-wall bar. No doors and only a couple of tables outside of the bar counter.

The Crow Bar was about to meet an Uzumaki out for a good time.

. . . .

" _ **Naruto."**_

" _No."_

" _ **Just hear me out-"**_

" _I said no dammit!"_

" _ **He's not cut out for this world, you have to kill him."**_

" _Goddammit Kurama, if you suggest killing this completely wholesome bartender one more time I'm coming into that seal and kicking your ass again!"_

Kurama grumbled to himself as he laid down, effectively shut down on his idea to put this poor man out of his misery. The guy was just _WAY_ too pure to live in a world like this. The mustachioed bartender of the Crow Bar had given the blond a large smile as he entered the establishment and proceeded to say one of the purest, most wholesome things the fox had heard in eons.

"By golly! It ain't everyday we get a professor in my little bar! My names Daryl, what can I get for you sir!"

It made the fox want to puke.

" _ **...Just kill him a little...please?"**_

" _HE MUST BE PROTECTED!"_

Kurama sighed in disappointment. Why must a creature like this exist? What did he do to deserve this kind of torture?...suddenly the memories of killing hundreds upon thousands of people in the past and causing rampant destruction wherever he went before he was sealed came to mind.

' _ **Damn you karma, why must you be such a bitch!?'**_

No longer paying attention to the fox's suffering, Naruto returned to his drink with a happy smile. A tall glass of Hunters Bain was just what he needed after the week he just had. Chugging half of the glass down without a second thought, he slammed it back down with a loud sigh of content, a rare smile tugging at his lips as he relaxed in the homey atmosphere the small bar gave.

"Gee Professor, you must be all sorts of stressed if your takin' to your drink this heavily." Daryl said as he started to clean a few glasses. Most of his patronage was done by Huntsman, and since most Huntsman weren't in town for long, his bar was currently empty save for the one armed blond. Naruto gave a heavy sigh before taking another big swig from his drink.

"You have no idea, Daryl."

"Ooh, that sounds like there's a story to that." A new voice called out from behind the blond. Smooth, seductive, and all around feminine. Daryl was the first to see her and instantly turned red as a cherry. Naruto on the other hand stiffened, his nose twitching as he picked up a familiar sent, one that set him on edge immediately.

Blood.

He turned his body around, left side facing the new arrival. She was an obvious beauty, he'd give her that. And she knew it too. Her red, form fitting dress was cut in such a way that it showed just enough of her hip to show the edges of her black spats. Her long legs on full display as she slowly-Deliberately-strutted forwards, her glass heels clicking with each and every step. Though she was trying to get all their attention focused on those legs of hers, Naruto kept his gaze lock on her eyes.

Her amber orbs shined with a sharpness that was hard to find these days. The held a confidence to them that the blond could tell that she wasn't someone to be taken lightly, and by the small, sultry smirk she wore, she knew she'd have just about anyone eating out of the palm of her hand with this little display.

Though, she obviously never met Naruto before. She slid her way up to the bar next to him and took a seat, eyes never leaving his. "So mister Professor, what's got you all twisted up, huh?" She asked, a soft coo to her voice as a hand duly traced a finger down his arm. The blond just gave her a full stare. Really? This was the _best_ she could do. He had to admit, her entrance was spot on, but now she was just laying it on thick.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" He droned out, not at all affected by her attempts at seduction. This had to be amateur hour compared to the things Kunoichi regularly had to do. She was making all kinds of mistakes. Too close right off the bat, eyes intently focused on him and never backing down. If she wanted to play the seductress role here, she'd bat her eyes, play a little harder to get, make him want to get closer to her on his own accord. Not throw herself at him like this.

And it seemed like she expected her attempt to work, if the slightly startled expression she let slip for all of a second before her grin...widened?

"My name's Cinder, you're professor Uzumaki, right? The youngest Professor to be hired at any of the huntsmen academies?"

Though her tone did not change, her body language did so entirely. No longer was she hanging off of him. Instead she leaned back in her chair, slowly crossing her legs and flashing him a predatory smile.

"And if I am?" Naruto responded, the alcohol might be playing tricks on him, but his senses were picking up on a familiar energy coming from her. One not unlike the one in the forest, though weaker. Much weaker. This felt more akin to the dying maiden in the...vault... _shit_.

" _ **Just put two and two together and got four didn't you, brat?"**_

" _Not now Kurama!"_ The blond hissed back at the laughing fox. Great. This was just _fabulous_. He came out here to drink, and loosen up after getting brought into a shadow war with secrets and shit, and now one of those secrets was sitting directly next to him. _Fuck_.

"Then," the woman, Cinder, answered while completely ignorant to his internal screaming. "I'd like to talk to you in a much more...private, place." she cooed, her hand reaching back out to his arm. The gentle caress was accentuated by the slight heat that radiated from her hand, and by the light that seemed to gleam from her eyes, she was doing it on purpose.

" _ **Play along kitten."**_

" _Matatabi?"_ Naruto questioned the cat's idea.

" _ **She isn't exuding any pheromones that suggest she's lusting after you."**_

" _Yeah I got that, she's doing a pretty poor job at seduction anyway, pretty cliche with what she's trying…"_

" _ **How would you know brat? Been doin' some seducin'"**_ Son decided to chip in.

" _I mean, did have to study it for a while to get my Sexy Jutsu down sooo."_

As Son and a few of the other Bijuu began to burst into laughter, Matatabi took a deep breath to keep herself from screaming at the blond and her brothers.

" _ **ANYWAY…"**_ she cut in before they got any more off task. " _ **That means she wants something from you other than...well...**_ **you.** "

" _Alright, alright. I'll go along with this. Worst case scenario I kill her and Ozpin owes me one."_

The blond leaned forward, moving into Cinders personal space as he tilted his head slightly. "Private, huh?" His words came as a soft growl, eyes darkening as he stared at her. Finder leaned back slightly, her eyes widening in surprise by the man's sudden change of demeanor.

" _ **Uh...wha-?"**_

" _Said is play along. Didn't say I wouldn't show her how it's done first."_ The Jinchuriki thought with a cheeky smirk. Turning his attention back to the half maiden in front of him, he shifted his body to fully face her, the knuckles of his one hand barely grazing her exposed thigh with a feather soft touch as he moved.

"Well I might be interested in something _private_." He almost purrs out the words, leaning back away from her, though only enough to be just outside of her personal space. "So, Cinder, what did you have in mind." He reached over and took his drink in hand and polished off the rest, eyes never leaving the half maiden.

" _ **...well whaddya know...there's the pheromones…"**_

. . . .

Ruby Rose was not what you would call a night owl. Some could even say that she was quite the opposite. Usually being dead to the world or passed out asleep by ten at night. But for whatever reason, she found herself not being able to fall asleep and decided to take a walk around Beacon's campus, taking this time to reflect on her first few weeks as a Huntress-in-training.

Besides the rocky start, things seemed to be going well. Weiss was starting to ease back a bit, cooperating more and helping her out when she needed help with any leaderish type stuff.

Blake was still being...Blakey? A mix between aloof and asocial, nothing really bad, but she sometimes gave her the feeling she wasn't happy being around the team. Though, the only reason Ruby didn't really worry about it was for the fact that Blake always tagged along with them, never refusing to hang out and always pitched into the conversation if it was about something she was interested in. Distant, but still friendly.

And to be completely honest, if Yang wasn't around she'd have no idea what to do. She was basically her rock at the moment, keeping her confident enough to be more outgoing than in Signal and actually act somewhat like a leader. Though, she did notice how on edge the blond was lately. The words she had told her about Professor Uzumaki still on her mind.

Speaking of the blond Professor…

Somewhere along the way of her wandering the campus, she found herself near the Bullhead docks, walking on scene that made her stop fully in her tracks. The blond Professor she had just been thinking about was closely following a brunette woman in a red and gold dress. And by the way they were headed, they were going into the city. Well, good for him she guessed?

What? She's fifteen, not five. She had a pretty good idea just what the blond was doing going into the city with a woman. Though...something about her seemed familiar. She could have sworn she'd seen that dress somewhere before. Deciding to get a better look, Ruby quickly moved with her semblance to a place she could see the two of them and remain hidden. Something about the click of the woman's glass heels and golden accents on her dress just screamed something to her, but she just couldn't remember what.

It wasn't until the woman turned in Ruby's direction that it finally clicked just where she'd seen her before. The red dress, gold patterns, glass heels, and slightly glowing golden eyes...it was the woman who was with Torchwick!

But what was she doing with the Professor!? Was she...Was she trying to kidnap him when he wasn't expecting it!? Kill him even!? But what would she want with him? Or better yet, what was she going to do with him!? The little reaper had to find out, so she did the best thing she could think of.

She tailed them onto the bullhead, sticking behind another group of people who were getting on and followed them into the city.

. . . .

" _ **You know you've got a little follower, right?"**_

" _Yeah, I noticed her when she got onto the bullhead, red cloak kinda gives her away pretty easily. Though, I guess Cinder hasn't noticed yet, so that's good."_ Naruto thought to himself as he subtly glanced over his shoulder to where the little red reaper was hiding. They were walking down a empty street in Vale's warehouse district, a pretty cliche place to hide if you asked the shinobi.

"So…" he started, trying his best to keep Cinder's focus on him so that she wouldn't notice their little follower. "Not that this isn't getting me into the mood or anything, but where exactly are you taking me?"

Cinder looked back over her shoulder and gave the blond a grin, her amber colored eyes glowing slightly. "Trust me, you'll know what you need when you need to know." She said with coyly before facing forwards and stopping in front of one of the several warehouses. "What you need to know is that someone very important wishes to speak with you, so, if you will?" She said as she turned back towards him, the large doors opening as she did so.

" _ **Lot of malice coming from inside there…"**_

" _Yeah...but it doesn't feel like it's pointed at anything in general…"_

" _ **Be careful brat. Whatever is in there should't be taken lightly."**_

" _My thoughts exactly…"_

. . . .

"Shoot!" Ruby hissed to herself as she watched the professor walk into the warehouse, shortly followed by the woman in red. What were they doing? Why was he following her? What were they talking about!?

Yang was right, there was something really bad going down here and Professor Uzumaki was right in the middle of it. She needed to find out what was going on and report it to someone. Who though? The police probably couldn't handle this, they were hunters after all. Ozpin would be her best choice, but knowing that he had hired the blond made her hesitate to go to him.

Well in either case, she needed to know more. Looking around she saw a fire escape on the side of the building. She took a deep breath and readied herself. Concentrating as hard as she could, she took a small running start before blasting into the air in a burst of rose petals. Coming to a stop in mid air, she flailed her arms, trying to grab onto the railing of the fire escape. Luckily enough, she was able to latch onto the side rail with little to no noise. Pulling herself up she gave a sigh of relief and began to scale her way to the top.

Coming to a door near the roof, she gave the latch a try, and thankfully, it was unlocked. She opened the door as quietly as she could, only enough so she could slip in and closed it behind her.

Looking around she noticed she was on some sort of catwalk looking over the center of the warehouse. Most of the lights were off, save for on in the middle of the building. The light from it illuminating a small portion of the building, but just enough to show her the blond Professor, and a...Grimm!?

" _My, oh my…you are much more than I first thought."_

AND IT TALKS!? ' _Deep breaths Ruby, deep breaths. Gotta keep a clear head of you're gonna blow your cover…'_ She schooled herself as best she and pulled out her scroll. ' _I gotta get this…'_

Aaaaaand record.

. . . .

' _This, is NOT what I expected out of my day today…'_

" _ **Are they not supposed to talk?"**_

" _It is incredibly rude to ignore me, child."_

Naruto shook himself out of his stupor and took a better look at the creature before him. It was an odd, jellyfish like Grimm with what looked like a crystal ball for a head. And within the crystal ball was the visage of a woman, her hair white as snow, skin matching it in color. Dark veins running up the sides of her face and her eyes an eire red. He would have said she had quite the beautiful look, were it not for the fact that she was so reminiscent of a grimm.

"Erhm," he cleared his throat before taking a small breath and readjusted himself. "Sorry, just uh...Didn't expect to be talking to someone _through_ a grimm is all. Caught me off guard." The woman-grimm-thing hummed in amusement for a moment before a small, calculating smirk curved its way on her lips.

" _I suppose for those who haven't experienced this before it would come as a shock."_ She said, a hand coming to her cheek as she rested her head to the side. " _Though, I suppose introductions are in order, Naruto Uzumaki. I have gained numerous names throughout my eons of existence on this world. Dark one, Goddess of the Night, Queen of Beasts, Grimmlord. Though, very few have ever truly learned my name. For someone like you though, I will gladly tell you my true name. I am Salem, overseer of this wretched world and the...mother, I guess you could say, of the grimm."_

"..."

Naruto just stared at the woman, a dull look in his eyes. The silence carried for a beat, the two, and then three. It became awkward, and irritating. Cinder stepped forwards, a frown on her face as she moved to snap the blond back to reality before stopping as the man released a long, irritated sigh. His blue eyes shifted from the Grimm and over to her.

"You got anything to drink here? Cuz gods I need it now more than earlier." The two just looked at him with varying emotions. Cinder was in silent shock. The man seemed so...so...apathetic, towards meeting a being of such power, such prominence and mystery!? A secret to the world, someone that controls the very monsters that have nearly hunted mankind to extinction and control over 90% of the planet, yet he just acts like he just got told he need to work a second shift for the day at work!

Salem however, had a small frown on her face, though a hint of amusement in her eyes. " _You know, it's awfully rude to ignore a woman who just introduced herself."_

Cinder's head whipped from the blond to her master so fast that she was thankful to have aura or she would of had some form of whiplash. Was that, amusement in her voice? Was she amused that the man before then was actively insulting her by being so nonchalant about her existence!?

The blond however, just shrugged. "To be completely honest your...majesty?" A nod from the Grimm like woman allowed him to continue. "To be honest your majesty, this isn't the strangest thing I've today. Honestly it's just another thing to pile up on this already long day."

The Queen nodded in understanding before the Grimm she was being projected by turned so she could see Cinder. "Cinder dear, please fetch our guest something to soothe his nerves. He seems to be rightfully in need of a drink."

Cinder just tried to keep her jaw from dropping as she almost robotically turned and walked off into the dark warehouse and out of sight.

Naruto looked at the queen of all Grimm with a sceptical eye. "You know, you're being a lot more accommodating than I thought you would be…"

The chuckle Salem let out was small, light, and all around mirthful if Naruto had to pin it down. He himself felt no malice from the woman, which was odd to him.

"Isn't it common courtesy to be hospitable to those you're discussing a potential deal with?" The Queen asked as Cinder reappeared, a glass of what looked to be wine in her hand. She handed it to the blond, making sure to stay just far enough away that Naruto had to lean slightly to reach the glass.

He took it and smelled it, searching for any poisons to evidence of tampering. Finding none, he took a sip. It was a pleasant brand, he wasn't much on wine, preferring harder liquor, but this would do.

"A deal you say?" He asked between a few sips. His attention now fully on the Grimm in front of him.

"Yes, I would like to make you an offer so that neither of us...step on each others toes, per say." The Queen waited for but a breath before continuing. "I know you've been searching for a particular bandit tribe for some time now. You assist me in my goals, and I will make finding that tribe as easy as wiping them out would be for you."

Naruto stared at the grimm for a long moment, several thoughts coming to mind as he mulled over her statement. Such thoughts like how in the world could she know he was looking for a bandit tribe, and just what she could even need from him. The Grimm owned over ninety percent of the planet, what could he possibly offer to her that she doesn't already have? So, the answer was obvious to the blond.

"No deal."

. . . .

 **(A/N): To be continued…**

 **Heyoooo, happy late spooktober everybody! Hope everyone had a happy Halloween! I certainly did. (I was DM for over 20 people for D &D….I just about went insane.)**

 **Anyway! Hope everyone liked this chapter, a little rushed there at the end, but I've already started the next one and wanted a way to just jump into the next chapter and not have to have you guys wait so that I could get the entire scene in one go.**

 **Thank you to "Hennesy Emil" over on ! You are the Fettiest lil Fett out there! I salute ya!**

 **Remember to REVIEW and if you feel like being AMAZING, help me out on at** **P atreon dot com slash Bulbanation.**

 **And like always, I'll see ya next time!**


End file.
